was sent to the south end of the towne, and continued
there until the Last of January, and then was sent
and continued in the middle of the town into y"
Last of February next, and then was sent behind the
pond in y' 3d day of March, and to continue there
fourteen nights, and then y' 16th March was returned
to y° middle of y' towne, and continued there nine
weeks."

This wandering of the schoolmaster over the town
to teach the children reminds us of the custom which
once prevailed in the country towns of New Eng-
land, for the cobblers and tailoresses to go around
among the people, doing the work of their craft in
tlie homes of their patrons.

Regular schools were not established in the out-
lying districts before 1755. The schools at first were
of a lower grade than the grammar school, teaching
little save reading, writing and arithmetic. They
were taught in winter by men, in the summer by
women.

In 1795 the town was divided into twelve dis-
tricts, in each of which a school waa sustained from
six to eight months of the year. The money
for the support of these twelve schools was raised
by taxation, as at present. This money was appor-
tioned to the schools according to the number of
families residing in the district. When this arrange-
ment was first made, there were four hundred and
one families in the town, and six hundred dollars
were raised for their support, or an average of fifty
dollars for each school. Two years later the sum
raised was eight hundred dollars. When the dis-
trict system went into operation the grammar
school was discontinued. The winter schools being
taught by masters, two-thirds of the money raised
for the support of scholars was devoted to the
winter schools. This practice of having the winter
schools taught by men, in which much the larger por-
tion of the money appropriated was expended, pre-
vailed for more than half a century. It was then
universally thought that female teachers were un-
suitable for winter schools, not so much from their
lack of knowledge, as from their lack of muscle. The
older boys of the district, who, in the summer, were
employed on the farm or in the shop, were expected
to attend the winter school for three or four months.
These boys were supposed to need discipline no less
than instruction. The long ferule and the birch were
as necessary an outfit for the master as the Arithmetic



1612



HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.



and the Reader. Hence the committee, in looking
for a master, had regard to his physical, no less
than his intellectual equipment. In these ivinter
schools, in not a few districts in the State, there used
to be continually recurring contests between the big
boys and the master for supremacy. Not seldom
was it that the boys came otf victors, though, as a
rule, the birch rod and oaken ruler conquered. When
the master was overcome and cast from the door of
the school-room into a snow-drift, as was sometimes
the case, he usually vacated his office.

The writer has personally known of two such in-
stances. As late as 1848, in a district school in a
thriving village, which had from the first been under
the charge of a master during the winter session, the
master was turned out of the school-house and
thrown into a snow-drift by the older boys. This was
not generally looked upon by the parents as any-
thing to be severely reproved. The struggle between
master and boys, like hazing in college, being of
ancient custom, was treated with sufterance. In the
case referred to, however, a different state of feeling
as to this practice having gained influence in the dis-
trict, the following winter the district committee-man
was persuaded to employ a young lady, who had
taught the summer school with marked success, to
continue in the same school through the winter ses-
sion. When the news of this new departure spread
over the district, it produced consternation in
some parents and called forth open opposition and
threats from others. The teacher was of small stature
but full of pluck, richly endowed with good nature,
tact and common sense, and withal, abundantly sup-
plied with knowledge and mother wit. The protest-
ing and indignant parents were told that the lady
teacher would take her place in the school-room at
the appointed time, that she was amply qualified to
instruct their sons in any branch of learning they
might wish to pursue, and that, if they sent their
boys to school for the purpose of being flogged, the
committee would hire an Irishman to discharge that
part of the teacher's duty. The school was success-
fully "kept," and from that day to this no master
has been employed in the district.

The district schools in this town were sometimes
called "outskirt" schools, sometimes "squadron"
schools, and were in session from six to eight
months. They were much under the oversight of the
minister of the two parishes, who visited them
regularly and "catechised" the children. Dr. Ed-
ward* distinguished himself for special fidelity in
this service. As all the parents belonged to his par-
ish, this practice of his, so far from being cause for
comi)laint, was matter of universal approval and
commendation.

Within comparatively a short time, great changes
have taken place in the public schools of the town.
The district system has been abolished. The schools
are graded into primary, intermediate, grammar and



high schools, and in all the grades are further
divided into classes. Those supported by the town
are all taught by ladies. The Punchard Free
School, which takes the place of a high school,
has a male principal and two female assistants.
The employment of teachers and the supervision
of the schools have been placed in the hands of
a committee chosen by the town. Eight thousand
dollars a year are appropriated for the support of
schools, besides the income from the Punchard
fund. The school buildings are all owned and
cared for by the town. They are neat, commodious
and comfortable, which could not have been said of
some of them under the district system. The gram-
mar, and the high or Punchard school buildingsi, are of
brick, large, airy, fitted with all modern appliances
for health, convenience, comfort, and for aiding
study. The aim is to secure the best teachers, and to
continue them in office as long as they give satisfac-
tion or desire to remain. There are at present
twenty teachers employed in the town schools.

The Proi'RIETOEs' Fund. — This fund, as its name
implies, is a gift, or appropriation, made by the pro-
prietors of the town, successors of the original pro-
prietors who purchased the township from the Indian
Sagamore, and were confirmed in their title by a
grant from the General Court. This company re-
tained itM legal existence till all the land included in
their purchase and grant had been deeded to indi-
viduals, or donated to public uses. In closing up
their accounts, previous to dissolution, they found a
surplus of money in their treasury amounting to
$1749. As this property had come into their hands
not for personal advantage, but to be used by them,
as trustees, for the public benefit, they decided to de-
vote the money to educational purposes in the town.
We find on their book of records that at a meeting
held September 23, 1801, it was '' voted that the money
belonging to the proprietors of Andover be equally
divided between the two parishes." After more ma-
ture deliberation it was subsequently " voted that the
said property be divided into two equal parts ; the
income of the one-half to be applied to the instruction
of youth of both sexes in reading, writing and arith-
metic in free schools in the South Parish in said An-
dover; the other half to be appropriated to the use of
the Academy in the North Parish in Andover." At
this meeting a committee was appointed to carry the
vote into eft'ect. As the matter was finally arranged, a
charter was obtained from the General Court creating
a self-perpetuating board of trustees for each of the
parishes, to hold and use the fund, " in perpetutim,"
in accordance with the vote of the proprietors. The |
charter for the South Parish is a lengthy one, going '
much into details. It is carefully drawn, has six sec-
tions, provides for the holding of additional funds by j
the trustees, and evidently manifests an expectation i
that their fund will become a nucleus for the gather- j'
ing in of other considerable sums, to be devoted to '



ANDOVER.



free schooling. They, however, limit the amount to
be held by their trustees to a sum that will yield an
income of one thousand dollars. The expectation of
these early friends of free schooling has not been
realized in the manner they anticipated. Not a dol-
lar has been added to the original fund, either by
gift or bequest. The trustees of the fund are still in
existence, and, preserving the principal intact, they
yearly pay over the income to the School Committee,
who use it to lengthen out the schools beyond the
time they are supported by the town appropriations.

But this small sum has the honorable distinction of
being the first money set apart in trust, the income of
which is to be used for education.

What the silent influence of this small trust fund
may have been, no one can say. That it was prophetic
is apparent. It was suggestive. It was a constant
reminder of a judicious way of forever benefiting a
community. The yearly use of the income of a per-
manent fund for free schools in the town, being a
familiar fact to Judge Phillips from his boyhood, may
have implanted in his mind, early and unawares, the
idea of a trust fund administered for educati'inal
purposes. If not thus the seed-corn of an abundant
harvest of like benefactions, it was certainly the fore-
runner of such benefactions, munificent in amount
and unspeakably fruitful in results. It is not unrea-
sonable to suppose that the latent germ of a free high
school should have been hidden in the proprietors
perpetual ftind. However this may be, it was in An-
dover that the first incorporated institution for the
higher education of boys and divinity students, and
for a like education for girls, had their birth. Phil-
lips Academy, the Theological Seminary and Abbot
Female Academy, each the first of its kind endowed
and incorporated in the country, have sent the fame of
this small country town over the civilized world,
and further still, into the darkness of heathen lands.
Other towns in the State far surpass Andover in other
respects, some in commercial enterprise and import-
ance, some in the fertility of their soil, some in their
manufacturing interests and industries, some in their
wealth and architectural adornments, some as places
of heroic historic deeds ; but Andover is second to no
other town in the State, Cambridge excepted, for its
historic educational institutions, and the wide in-
fluence, through these institutions, it has exerted in
the fields of letters, science, statesmanship, morals
and religion. Hence, of all the things pertaining to
the history of the town, the inception, growth and
character of these institutions of learning are of the
foremost consequence.

Master Foster's School.— Previous to our no-
tice of these incorporated institutions of learning, it
may be proper to mention a select school for lads
opened in the South Parish by Mr. William Foster,
not long after the removal of Judge Phillips to the
South Parish. This private school was, for the most
part, patronized from abroad. Mr. Foster took the



lads into his family, and gave them such care and
training as their age and circumstances required.
" Master Foster's " school became quite celebrated,
and proved to be, both to master and pupils, a source
of profit. It was continued for a series of years, or
till the teacher had become enfeebled by age.

PUNCHAED Free School.— The Punchard Free
School, as its name implies, was established by the
munificent bequest of Mr. Benjamin Hanover Pun-
chard. Mr. Punchard was born in Salem, Mass., De-
cember 16, 1799. His ancestors were immigrants
from the island of Jersey. His father dying when
he was only ten years of age, he was compelled, from
that date, to earn his own living. Up to this time he
had enjoyed the advantages of good schools and com-
petent teachers. But, at this early age, his educa-
tional opportunities terminated.

That he improved well the privileges he enjoyed is
evident from the fact that, when a little above the age
of eleven, he was employed as a copyist, afterwards as
a clerk in a West India store in Boston,

In this latter employment he developed so much
ability, and displayed such industry and fidelity, as to
secure the confidence of his employers, and, at twen-
ty years of age, a partnership in the firm. But the
labor and responsibility of his position wore upon
his constitution, enfeebled by undue hardships in his
youth. He was obliged to give up business and re-
tire from the firm at twenty-eight years of age. He
had, however, in this brief period, acquired a hand-
some fortune for those days. He came to Andover as
a desirable locality for recruiting his exhausted ener-
gies. Here he became a stockholder in the Andover
Bank, then recently started. He also soon, in part-
nership with Mr. John Derby, opened a store in the
town for trade in miscellaneous goods. Here also he
married the daughter of Mr. Abraham Marland, and
when, in 1834, the Marland Manufacturing Company
was incorporated, he became one of the few incor-
porators and owners. This business, proving emi-
nently lucrative, added much to his fortune. He
built a handsome residence in the centre of the vil-
lage, the finest at that time in the town. He traveled
much in this and foreign countries, partly for the ad-
I vantage of his health, and partly to increase his
knowledge and gratify his taste. He took a deep in-
terest in the education of the young. His own de-
privation of educational privileges in his youth, and
his residence in Andover, where the atmosphere was
impregnated with the school spirit, doubtless turned
his thoughts towards a free school, as the most desir-
able object upon which to bestow his wealth. He
was childless, and had few near kindred. He was
withal a public-spirited man, and desired earnestly
the welfare of his fellow-citizens and countrymen.
He had contributed liberally to the support of the
EjHscopal Church in the town, and in his will left a
handsome sum for its maintenance. He was a com-
municant in this church, a consistent member andde-



1614



HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.



vout worshipper. He died April 4, 1850, aged fifty
years, three months and nineteen days.

In his will he bequeathed fifty thousand dollars,
with a reversion, at the decease of his wife, of twenty
thousand dollars additional, for the establishment of
a free school for the town. Ten thousand of the fifty
thousand dollars were made available for a building,
and forty thousand were to be kept in trust as a per-
petual fund for the support of the school. The re-
versionary bequest, when received, was to be added to
the permanent fund.

The following provisions for the management of
the school are specified in the will :

" Said school shall be under the direction of eight trustees, of whom
the Hector of Christ Church is to be one ; also, the ministers of the South
Parish and West Parish Congregational Societies to be members ; also,
the remaining five to be chosen by the inhabitants of Andover in Town-
Meeting, to serve for three years ; two of whom to be talveu from Christ
Church Society, two from the South Parisli Society, and one from the
West Parisli Society. Said school to be free to all youths resident in
Andover, under the restrictions of the trustees as to age and qualifica-
tions. No sectarian influence to be used in the school ; the Bible to be
in daily use ; and the Lord's Prayer, in which the pupils shall join audi-
bly with the teacher, in the morning, at the opening ; the said trustees
to have the sole direction ; and power, also, to determine and decide
whether the school shall be for males only, or for the benefit of both
sexes. Said school to be located in the South Parish, of Andover, but
free for all tlie Parishes equally."

These provisions of the will have been strictly ad-
hered to. Since the North Parish has been incorpo-
rated as a separate town, it has established a high
school of its own, and, though legally entitled to the
benefits of the Punchard School, the people of North
Andover have long since ceased to avail themselves
of their right.

An act of incorporation for the school was obtained
from the Legislature February 26, 1851. Also by act
of the Legislature March 28, 1856, the Punchard
School was made the High School for the town, thus
relieving the town from the statute obligation to sus-
tain by taxation a high school.

The amount of money designated in the will for a
school building being quite inadequate for the pur-
pose, and there being much diversity of opinion
among the trustees as to the best location for the
building, the edifice was not commenced till June,
1855. It was completed in September, 1856. The
interest on the money, added to the ten thousand dolr
lars designated in the will, enabled the trustees to
erect a building both commodious and attractive. It
was dedicated September 2, 1856, the address on the
occasion being delivered by Dr. Fuller, rector of
Christ Church and trustee of the school.

This building was destroyed by an incendiary fire
on the morning of December 15, 1868, The insur-
ance money, not being sufficient ti replace the buildr
iug, and the town having been enjoined by the Su-
preme Court from carrying out their vote to aid, with
an appropriation, the trustees in rebuilding, the
school was for a time suspended. The town pur-
chased the site of the Punchard School building of
the trustees, erected thereon an edifice similar in de-



sign, appearance and structure to the former edifice,
with minor changes, which experience had shown to
be desirable, and then leased the same to the Pun-
chard trustees for a nominal yearly rent. In this
building the school was opened September, 1871.

The course of study in the institution is similar to
that of the high schools in the Commonwealth.

The permanent fund, having been increased by the
addition of the insurance money and the sale of land,
now amounts to seventy-five thousand dollars.

Mr. Peter Smith Byers, A.M., was the first princi-
pal elected. He died March 19, 1856, never haviug
filled the position of principal. He was a graduate
of Harvard College, had been assistant teacher in
Phillips Academy and principal of the High School
in Providence, R. I. On account of his scholarship,
general ability, success as a teacher and rich promise
of future usefulness as the manager and instructor of
youth, he was chosen principal of the Punchard School
by the trustees in advance of the time for the open-
ing of the school, and given leave to travel for his
health, in the mean time drawing the salary of the
principal.

His death was gi-eatly lamented, and even to the
present day is spoken of with tenderness and regret.-
One of his classmates at Harvard, speaking of him,
writes: " In his threefold character as a scholar, a
gentleman and a Christian, he had the entire respect
and confidence of all our class. If I were to single
out any one who had a more uniform and high re-
spect from all, and who had a higher influence than
any other upon the class, I should certainly single
him. Until the grave shall have closed over the last
of his friends and classmates, the direct influence of
his Christian example will live upon earth."

The brother of Mr. Byers, Mr. John Byers, of New
York, has given money for an alcove in Memorial
Hall with books in his remembrance, also a memorial
in Christ Church.

The second principal of the school was Mr. Nathan
M. Belden, A.M., a graduate of Trinity College,
Hartford, Conn. He was elected January 1, 1856,
and resigned February 27, 1857. Mr. Belden was
succeeded by Rev. Charles H. Seymour, of Haverhill,
who was elected February 27, 1857, and resigned Oc-
tober, 1858.

Mr. William Gleason Goldsmith, A.M., a native
of Andover, and a graduate of Harvard College, a
student of law, succeeded Mr, Seymour, being elected
Novenjber 1, 1858. When the school building was
destroyed, and the school was to be suspended, Mr.
Goldsmith resigned and took the position of Peabody
Instructor of the Natural Sciences in Phillips
Academy. While he was in discharge of the duties
of this position. Dr. Taylor, the principal, died sud-
denly, and Mr. Goldsmith was appointed to act as
principal till the close of the year. On the re-opening
of the Punchard School in 1871, Mr. Goldsmith wa-i
re-appointed principal, which position he held with



marked success till his resignation, December 22,
1885. He is now postmaster for the town.

In 1885 Mr. Charles H. Clark, M.A., a graduate of
Bowdoin College, Maine, was elected principal to suc-
ceeded Mr. Goldsmith. He is still filling the office
and conducting the school successfully, with the aid
of two female assistants.

Hon. Samuel Phillips. — As the potential exist-
ence of Phillips Academy dates back to the birth of
Samuel Phillips, Senator, Judge, Lieutenant-Gover-
nor, conceiver and projector of this institution, and
prime mover in every step of its development from a
crude idea to an accomplished feet, whose personality
was infused into every sentiment and principle upon
which the institution is based, it is fitting that any
historical sketch of this institution should open with
the birthof Mr. Phillips, and synchronize with his life
to its close.

Hon. Samuel Phillips, sixth child of Samuel Phil-
lips and Elizabeth Barnard Phillips, and the only
one of seven that lived to manhood, was born in
Andover, February 5, 1752. He was the fifth in de-
scent from Rev. George Phillips of VVatertown, the
bead of the family in this country, and the grandson
of Rev. Samuel Phillips, the first pastor of the South
Church. He was not a robust boy, and was much
more disposed to books than hardy sports ; of a
thoughtful and sedate temperament, inclining him to
pursuits and companionships unusual to lads of his
years. Though his father was a trader, he was a
graduate of Harvard, and desired a collegiate educa-
tion for his only child. With this in view, the boy
was sent to Dummer Academy, Byfield, the only
institution of the kind then in the country, for a pre-
paratory training. He was thirteen years old, " a re-
markably systematic, industrious, mature child, full of
bright promise in kindred virtues for the future." At
Dummer he met Eliphalet Pearson, then a poor boy,
eager and struggling for a liberal education. This
school acquaintance ripened into a friendship which
grew in strength through the years of preparation, and
so on through the collegiate course into their manhood,
when it became the source of unspeakable benefit
to both and to mankind. Young Phillips from his
earliest years was serious-minded, the child of an-
cestral faith and prayers, blameless in conduct, and
of a devout disposition ; but not till eighteen years
old did he publicly declare his faith in Christ,
and, by uniting with the Church, devote himself to
the service of God. This act was the result of long
deliberation, and was done with such thoughtfulness
and firmness of purpose, as to furnish an eflfectual
barrier against the temptations of youth and college
life. He was in his junior year at this time, having
entered Harvard when but fifteen years old. He
graduated in 1771, at the age of nineteen, in the
largest class the College graduated till the year 1810.
He was second in rank in this class, which contained
many men who afterwards gained distinction in



IVJIJR. 1615

various pursuits and professions. He was not a bril-
liant scholar, but studious; making amends for hia
slowness in acquisition by his diligence, and by the
tenacity with which his memory held what hard
labor had gained. He was, withal, exceedingly con-
scientious in the use of his time and in theimprovement
of his opportunities. In his journal we find expres-
sions of regret for time wasted in sleep, and for " pre-
cious moments unimproved.'' " Time once gone," he
says, " is gone forever. We take no notice of it but
by its loss ; how short! and of what vast importance
is a diligent improvement of it." In this conscien-
tious use of opportunities and time we may find the
secret of his manifold labors and marked successes.