Eaton Family School Reunion, 1888

On June 15, 1888, the Eaton School Association held its third annual reunion of Eaton Family School pupils.  The Association remained active for several years and was responsible in part for securing the school's legacy within the educational history of Middleborough.

Illustrations:
Eaton School Association Third Annual Reunion invitation, 1888.

Eaton School Association Third Annual Reunion circular, 1888.

Eaton Family School Catalog, 1888-89

Eaton Family School Circular, 1874

Eaton Family School

As the successor to both the Middeboro' Boy's School, the Eaton Family School which operated between 1874 and 1898 in Middleborough continued to provide the same fundamental family-style education first developed by Reverend Marston some twenty years earlier. However, under the proprietorship of Reverend Herrick M. Eaton of Westerly, Rhode Island, and particularly his son, Amos H. Eaton, of Middleborough, the Eaton Family School would achieve an even higher reputation among New England academic institutions and earn a place in the educational history of the community.

Amos H. Eaton was born July 2, 1843, at Camden, Maine, the son of Reverend Herrick M. and Joanna (Hopkins) Eaton. He was educated in Camden public schools, the Maine Wesleyan Academy, the Eaton Family School at Kent’s Hill and finally Gould Academy. Following this, Eaton, at the age of sixteen, began teaching at Titcomb Academy in Belgrade, Maine, and two years later, in 1861, he assumed charge of the Eaton Family School at Kent’s Hill for a period of two years.

After a stint as a traveling salesman, Eaton founded the Eaton Family and Day School at Norridgewock, Maine, with his older brother Hamlin F. Eaton. Later, he served as Superintendent of Schools for Somerset County, Maine, and had charge of Hartland Academy in Maine, as well, before coming to Middleborough.

The acquisition of Cushing’s School in Middleborough in 1874 marked Eaton’s return to the management of a family-style educational institution. The prospectus of the Eaton Family School outlined the school’s purpose, emphasizing that “the small number of pupils enables the members of the school to be treated as members of the family, so that good manners as well as good morals can be inculcated…. No student whose influence is injurious to the others will be allowed to remain in the family.” (Asterisks beside pupils’ names in the school’s catalog indicated students who had been dismissed for such misconduct).

Students like Edward E. Litchfield of North Scituate (now Norwell) who was expelled for misconduct sometime during the 1881-82 academic year were required to endure the humiliation of seeing their expulsion recorded in the school's annual catalog, a shame that nonetheless undoubtedly reassured the parents of better behaved children.

One of the most fundamental changes made by Eaton was opening the previously all-boys school to girls. “This school is intended to give people of both sexes an opportunity to acquire a good education under the constant care of a judicious instructor and amid the refining influences of a pleasant home.”

The school's kindergarten, one of the first established locally, marked the school as a progressive institution.  Opening on September 6, 1878, under the direction of Marquita Putnam Eddy, the daughter of William C. Eddy of East Middleborough, the kindergarten had an enrollment of 16 pupils all drawn from Middleborough and included Eaton's own two daughters, Bessie and Emmie.

At the Eaton Family School there was no prescribed curriculum, although a large emphasis was placed upon preparation for college through the so-called "Classical" curriculum.  Reading, spelling, penmanship, free-hand and mechanical drawing, rhetoric and oratory were all required.  Declamations and Compositions were required twice monthly and students were also called upon to write home each month.  In what today would be considered a gross invasion of privacy, these letters were both read and corrected by the teacher.

The social and physical sciences and the humanities were well represented with coursework in geography; world, American and U. S. Constitutional history; chemistry; physiology; astronomy; botany and philosophy.  Latin, French and Spanish were offered to those students who expressed and interest.  Vocal and piano instruction was also provided should students so desire.

In addition to the Classical curriculum, the school offered more practical classes, including mathematics and book-keeping, both of which were described in 1879 as "specialties".  Additionally, vocational courses were taught including navigation and land surveying (taught through field practice).  The object was to provide a well-rounded education for students intent upon seeking a career in business, not just the professions to which private academies generally catered.  "It is intended to make the instruction in this department as thorough and valuable as it is in any Commercial College", boldly stated the school's catalog.

Eaton's firm belief in the practicality of education is demonstrated in a letter dated April 16, 1879, written by 17-year-old Albert Jarvis Hastings of Medway to his father Demming.  In the letter, Hastings remarks on the advice given him by Eaton regarding his education.  "I think I hall take up Latin and Chemistry", Hastings wrote.  "I asked Mr. E about taking Algebra and he thought it would not be much of a benefit to me unless I went through it and took up some of the higher branches."  Hastings appears to have heeded Eaton's advice.  "I have Reading and Spelling so I think I have about all I can attend to" without Algebra.

Eaton recognized the value of play and encouraged recreation for the children.  "Ample provision is made for recreation and innocent amusements, and great pains are taken to make the pupils contented and happy."  Teachers frequently joined in the games with their pupils.  Physical activity was encouraged as evidenced by one report that remains from 1878 of a child who broke a wrist after a short fall from a horizontal bar.  The fracture was set by Dr. Hodgson of Middleborough.

Given the large number of students and the close contact they experienced, maintaining their health was a constant priority for the Eatons.  In late 1878 scarlatina, otherwise known as scarlet fever, appeared in the school, afflicting Eaton himself.  The cases fortunately proved mild and by the close of the year the patients had all recovered.

Eaton was assisted in his educational work by a number of women over the years including Misses Lillia E. Thurston and Ella B. Stevens in 1876, Miss Hannah Connor in 1877, Miss Hattie S. Morgridge in 1878 and Miss Marquita Pratt Eddy in 1879. Eaton’s wife, Alice, served as matron as well as the apparent record keeper and treasurer of the school. It is her signature which is inscribed in the front of one of the school’s four remaining record books.

Later teachers included Miss Nellie P. Nichols (elocution and physical culture), Miss M. A. Overhiser (piano) and Mrs. Dora P. Leonard (vocal). “Reading, spelling, penmanship, vocal music, drawing and recitations will be expected to participate in, the first three being daily exercises."

Though the Eaton Family School was most frequently considered a boarding school, the majority of pupils were actually day students from Middleborough, and the number of students accepted as boarders or "family members" was purposely limited in order to maintain the home-like atmosphere that was the rationale for the school.  

For those who did board, strict rules were established, each student being required to “furnish their own towels and other articles for their personal toilet. Each one should be provided with a Bible, a dictionary, a slate, and umbrella and rubbers” or rubber boots - the last two concessions to the generally miserable spring weather. Required texts were furnished at “regular prices.”  Purchases of necessary items were diligently recorded by Alice Eaton in the school ledgers.  The 1882 catalog was explicit that clothing should be marked by parents, declaring in no uncertain terms that "unmarked clothing will not be laundered".  Students boarding with the Eatons, as well as the day students, were expected to attend church services at least once on Sundays.

One advantage of the school was its physical location on the hill a way above the Nemasket River.  Like Marston and Cushing before them, the Eatons believed that the school’s setting enhanced their students’ educational experience. “The location of the buildings is on the southern edge of the village, far enough away to give all the benefits of a residence in the country, and still near enough to obtain the advantages of the village as it is less than ten minutes walk to the railroad station and fifteen to the postoffice and churches.”  The healthfulness of the location was also touted, the catalog for 1888-89 proclaiming: “No more healthful location can be found in Massachusetts than in Middleborough. The soil is light and sandy, the surrounding forests are mostly pine, and the prevailing winds come from the waters of Buzzards Bay. Added to this, there is an abundant supply of the purest water.”

Regional poet James Riley who attended the school, later in 1888 described the school's setting in poetic phrases: "Surrounded, as is the Eaton School, with all that is beautiful in nature before it and stretching away the green fields to meet the blending roof-tops, where spire and turret lift themselves to heaven, with the river sparkling in the valley, and the distant pines, where climbs the sun at morn, all make those quiet sades, indeed, a picture of contentment." 

The school catalog was more prosaic, indicating that the school was near enough the village "to enjoy all the advantages, while at a sufficient distance to be free from noise and disturbances."

As had been the case with both the Marston and Cushing Schools, gardening and horticulture were actively encouraged and part of the academic program.  The Eaton School record books indicate that the large pear orchard and grape arbors that had produced quantities of pears and grapes during Perez Cushing's time continued to be cultivated by the Eatons.  Nature studies and botany complemented each student's education.

Students at the Eaton Family School were drawn primarily from New England and New York, but some came from as far away as Virginia and New Brunswick. In advertising his school, Eaton linked it to both Cushing’s and Marston’s schools, indicating in 1879 that the school had been established “a quarter of a century ago”.  Nonetheless, Eaton also emphasized that under his direction, the institution had “constantly increased in the number of its pupils and improved in the efficiency of its instruction.”  Unlike Marston’s early school, however, the Eaton Family School did draw from the local community, with Middleborough students attending as day pupils. Eventually, attendance at the school was limited to 10 boarding pupils and 30 day pupils. While the so-called “family pupils” who boarded with the Eatons paid $300 a year for their education, local day pupils paid only $40, a considerable bargain.

The Middleborough students who attended the Eaton Family School were the children of the town’s professional and commercial elite and among those local students attending during the school’s earliest years were William H. Andrews, son of shoe manufacturer William Andrews; Charles H. Briggs, son of Middleborough’s most successful liveryman Otis Briggs; Edward Brayton, son of Star Mill treasurer George Brayton; Estelle B. Coombs, daughter of Middleboro Gazette publisher and editor James M. Coombs; Goerge A. Cox, ward of attorney Everett Robinson; James, Stephen and Carleton, the sons of Captain Stephen B. Gibbs; Ivory H. Harlow, Jr., son of lumber mill owner and box manufacturer Ivory Harlow; Fred H. Jenney, son of coal dealer James L. Jenney; Bertie E. Kingman, son of shoe manufacturer C. D. Kingman; Alice D. Ryder, daughter of Old Colony Railroad architect Earl E. Ryder; Serena A. Shaw, daughter of druggist William B. Shaw; and Clarence E. Tobey, son of Star Mill  superintendent Charles Tobey. Interestingly, Charles E. Wilbar of Middleborough is also recorded as having attended the school. His patron was listed in the school’s earliest catalog as Mrs. C. S. Stratton, better known to us as Mrs. Tom Thumb.

In the first five years of the Eaton School’s operation, although annual enrollment was restricted to 15 pupils, some 86 students attended. Enrollment, particularly of day students, increased steadily during the proprietorship of the Eatons, so much so that by the 1895-96 academic year the school was obliged to hire space in what is now the Glidden Block on Center Street, where space was provided for a school and recitation rooms for sixty pupils.

The School continued to emphasis both general and vocational education, and prided itself on the business course of study which it offered students. The catalog for the 1895-96 academic year noted “the large number of young men and women occupying good business positions, who received their instruction in this school.” During the 1895-96 academic year, and evening school was offered which proved successful enough to warrant its continuance the following year.

The Eaton Family School was held in high esteem locally, with numerous residents of prominence supporting the school, including grocer Matthew H. Cushing and Judge Francis M. Vaughan of the Fourth District Court. Shoe manufacturer Calvin D. Kingman whose sons attended the school spoke highly of it in a widely circulated testimonial. “I regard the Eaton Family School in our town as one of the best institutions for the instruction of young men in our State. My own boys have been greatly benefited by its teachings. The Principal has the happy faculty of interesting his pupils in their studies and awakening ambitions to excel. The government is firm, but kind and fatherly.” 

As an educator, Amos Eaton excelled in insuring his students. One former pupil, Albert H. Washburn who later served as the American counsel in Vienna, wrote in 1895 of Eaton’s abilities. “I have always believed that you possess qualities of head and heart which fit you to direct with exceptional success the mental, moral and physical training of boys. Your methods of instruction are excellent, and in mathematics especially I have personally never known of anyone who could excel you in accurately stating and clearly illustrating what you undertake to teach.” Part of Eaton’s success lay in the fact that the school provided individualized instruction geared to the needs of each student. “Those who, from any cause whatever, have fallen out of their classes; who do not find themselves making satisfactory progress in the public schools; who do not care to follow out the prescribed courses of study, will here find an opportunity to select such branches of study as are fitted to their needs or desires, and pursue them without being obliged to take up distasteful or seemingly useless courses.” 

Many of the school’s graduates maintained fond recollections of their educational experience in Middleborough, and a number of them eventually established the Eaton Family School Association, which began holding annual reunions in 1885. These events included a mid-day dinner served on the school lawn (or in the classroom in the advent of inclement weather) which was catered by Middleborough baker Samuel S. Bourne, with occasional literary exercises being held in the Y. M. C. A. rooms on Center Street. Each reunion culminated with a promenade, reception and dance, held in later years in Middleborough Town Hall.   

While Eaton School Association's ostensible purpose was the holding of annual reunions, it more significantly fostered the legacy of the school and its head as one of Middleborough's leading educators. “It has always seemed to me,” wrote an alum to Eaton in the 1890s, “that you had a greater influence in forming my ideas of what a man ought to be, than anyone except my guardian....”   Described as “a plain blunt man, not an orator,” Eaton nonetheless spoke eloquently of his vocation on the occasion of the 1887 reunion. “As a teacher I am more and more impressed with the fact that I am my brother's keeper.” At the time, Eaton recalled with fondness his former pupils who were “always boys and girls to me, no matter how old or gray they may grow … As said the Roman matron of her noble sons, so I would say of these boys and girls, 'these are my jewels.'”

The Eaton Family School continued to operate until 1898 when Amos Eaton was elected to the combined position of Middleborough Town Clerk, Treasurer and Collector, a position which he held until 1909. Throughout the years, however, Eaton continued to maintain contact with his numerous former pupils, preserving a variety of items sent to him including wedding invitations, letters, birth notices and death notices.  He died March 31, 1910, at the Homeopathic Hospital at Boston, “one of the most beloved and respected men of his time.” He left behind him an educational legacy of nearly a quarter-century and the fond memories of several hundred boys and girls.  At the time of his death it was written of Eaton: "He was an ideal teacher, a great lover of books, a fine scholar himself, broadly sympathetic in the hopes and ambitions of his pupils he won their affection to a degree rarely enjoyed by a teacher."

Illustrations:
Amos H. Eaton (1843-1910), photograph, late 19th century.
Eaton was the founder of the Eaton Family School on East Grove Street.  A progressive teacher and principal, Eaton won the affection of his numerous pupils and was noted as one of the community's best loved and most respected educators.

Eaton Family & Day School, Norridgewock, ME, photograph, mid-19th century.

Catalogue of the Eaton Family School, for Five Years, Ending June, 1879.  Middleborough, Mass. (Plymouth County.)  Middleborough, MA: Eaton Family School, 1879. 
This catalogue printed by the Gazette Steam Power Book and Job Printing Office of Middleborough was one of many printed for the school.

"No Prescribed Course of Study" notice from undated Eaton Family School Catalogue, ate 19th century.

Eaton Family School, engraving, c. 1870.
This engraving, originally produced for the Middleboro' Boys' School, was later used by the Eaton Family School in its promotional literature.

Letter, Albert Jarvis Hastings to his father Demming Hastings of Medway, MA, April 16, 1879.

Eaton Family School group, stereocard, 1870s.

Eaton Family School ledger, late 19th century.
The ledger shows the accounts of Charles W. Kingman of Middleborough and Ira C. Beals with expenses for pens, pencils, blocks, erasers and texts.

Eaton Family School, engraving, c. 1879.

Eaton Family School ledger, 1879.
Accounts for the fruit orchard and gardens maintained by the school were kept separate from those of the school's educational expenses.

Supplement Containing Names of Pupils for the Year Ending June 18th, 1880.  Middleborough, MA: Eaton Family School, 1880.

Eaton Family School, photographic half-tone, c. 1890.

Eaton School Association reunion dance card, 1898.
The 1898 reunion featured hand-painted floral dance cards including the one pictured here.

Eaton Family School, photograph, early 20th century.
Few photographs exist of the Eaton Family School taken during its operation as an educational institution or in the period immediately following.  This view taken from the west depicts the school as well as a portion of the pear orchard planted to Perez Cushing, proprietor of the Middleboro' Boys' School.

Middleboro' Boys' School Prospectus, 1855

Below is prospectus for the first academic year (1854-55) of the Middleboro' Boys' School operated by Reverend Sylvester W. Marston.  The catalog describes not only the coursework to be undertaken by pupils, but other details of the boarding school, as well.  Among those associated with the school were John Whipple Potter Jenks, principal of Peirce Academy, and Charles C. Burnett, an instructor at that academy.

The Middleboro' Boys' School

Prior to the establishment of Middleborough High School which graduated its first class in 1876, students wishing to pursue higher education had few alternatives to expensive college preparatory academies such as Middleborough’s Peirce Academy which was beyond the financial reach of most families. One local alternative to such academies was the Middleboro' Boys’ School (later and best known as the Eaton Family School), which operated on East Grove Street for four decades as a boarding school for boys headed successively by Reverend Sylvester W. Marston (1854-56), Reverend Perez L. Cushing (1856-74) and Reverend Herrick M Eaton and his son Amos H. Eaton (1874-98).

The Middleboro' Boys' School

The school was established in 1854 by Reverend Sylvester W. Marston who served for a brief time as chairman of the Middleborough School Committee. In contrast to Peirce Academy which was to a large extent a college preparatory institution, with students attending classes and residing either in a dormitory on School Street or boarding with local families, the Middleboro’ Boys’ School was intended as a boarding school where students would study with and reside with the Marston family in their home, an atmosphere which was considered more conducive to learning. To highlight the distinction, the school was most often referred to as Marston’s Family School or Marston’s Boarding School and the number of pupils was limited to 20. Additionally, Marston’s school was seen as the precursor to Perice Academy and Marston was also careful to ensure that his new school was not viewed as a competitor to the older and more prestigious academy.  The prospectus for the Marston School in 1854 emphasized: “It is not the design of this School to prepare young men for college, but to lay the foundation for such preparation. Hence it may be regarded, so far as it has any relation to ‘Peirce Academy,’ as a primary department. To those, therefore, who wish to have their sons fit for college, we would recommend ‘Peirce Academy,’ as second to no other institution of the kind for the advantages it affords.”

An 1856 description of the Marston School placed heavy emphasis upon the family-like nature of the institution, a quality sure to appeal to parents. “…There was a likeness to a family, an affection, as if parental and filial, evidently felt between teacher and scholars that was most pleasing, because there is in it an influence in spirit like that of a good home, from which children ought never to be removed.”

The school proved highly popular, particularly among parents who sought a home-like school for their sons aged 6 to 15, one which provided a higher level of chaperoning than did private academies. One booster in the mid-1850s stressed “to those parents who care for moral as well as mental culture” that Marston’s “affords a very desirable place for the education of boys.”

A number of descriptions of the school and its operations were carried in local newspapers during its first years of operation. One lengthy description of the boarding school was carried in the pages of the local Namasket Gazette in 1855, and described the layout of the home: “The edifice is new and contains 18 rooms, including parlors, dormitories, dining hall, and school room, all neat and well adapted to the purposes intended. The school room is furnished with a library, 14 periodicals, and all needed apparatus.”

At the time, sixteen boys were in attendance at the school, all of whom appeared (at least to the writer at that time) as “contented, happy, and improving in mental and moral culture.” Tuition was set at $45 a term or $180 a year and despite the cost proved no deterrent to enrollment. Though known as the Middleboro’ Boys’ School, no boys from Middleborough actually attended. During its first few terms, fully over two-thirds of the students came from New Bedford, with some coming from as far away as Brooklyn and New Orleans. None, however, came further than Henry H. Judson who residence is listed in school records of the time as “Burmah.”

Besides the regular course of academic studies which included reading, writing, orthography (penmanship), English, grammar, mental and written arithmetic, geography, physiology, algebra, history and geometry, Marston also ensured that both art and music were featured prominently as part of the curriculum. Originally the arts were taught by Albert G. Pickens (piano), Ebenezer Wood (voice) and S. P. Hine (drawing) but in 1855 Marston “secured the services of an accomplished teacher in drawing and music, Mrs. Maria L. Wainwright of Boston. “She devotes two hours a day to music and one to drawing. At the close of the regular exercises, fifteen minutes are devoted to singing.” Likewise, manual instruction was sponsored in order to cultivate the “habits of industry.”

As part of the educational routine, Marston made use of the property which was situated on a rocky outcropping above the Nemasket River. Each of the students was given care of a flower garden, a dovecote, and the domestic animals and fowl. During the spring of 1855, more than one hundred dollars worth of fruit trees were planted on the school property, both to beautify the grounds and enhance the students’ knowledge of horticulture. On the property also stood “an ice house furnished with an abundance of cooling beverage for the coming warm season.” The school thus provided the benefits of a rural home within close proximity to the village with its churches and lecture halls. Yet Marston also made clear that the school was far enough removed “from the village, and from the bad influences of the idle and vicious who loiter about in public places.”

What surely must have been a highlight of the spring season at the school were the outings along the Nemasket River downstream to Lake Assawompsett. “The teacher occasionally takes the school into a boat and gives them a water excursion, some four or five miles across the Pond, at the head of the river.” Such ventures helped supplement the study of botany and zoology undoubtedly provided to the students at the school.

Winter terms were also a time for outdoor recreation with skating and coasting encouraged. Winter evenings were filled with talks and “games by the fireside with the family.”

Given Marston’s calling as a reverend, it is not surprising that religion and moral instruction occupied a central place in the school’s educational life. Pupils were expected to participate in the family’s daily devotions, each boy learning and repeating a Biblical verse. Attendance at both church and Sunday School was obligatory. While not explicitly stated, Marston’s School catered exclusively to Protestants. At the time, anti-Catholic feeling both nationally and locally had contributed to the rise of the Know Nothing Party, whose platform Marston seemingly would have endorsed. In 1854 Marston ensured parents that the school was a place exempt from the “corrupting influences”, “profane habits and infidel notions of the foreign population in our City Schools” where “their sons will be properly cared for and educated under holier influences.”

Discipline within the school was to be “strict and impartial, yet mild and parental.” The conscience of the boys was to be relied upon to maintain order. When that failed, the school prospectus indicated that “the judicious rod of love will be used … when duty requires the fulfillment of the wise man’s instruction.” Nonetheless, students were provided a degree of freedom not always prevalent in private schools of the era. Pupils were allowed the same privileges as members of the Marston family, while Mrs. Marston devoted herself to the care of the boys, their clothing and the “wants peculiar to their age.”

Despite the success of the school, Marston did not operate it long. In the spring of 1856, he decided to pursue his luck out West along with Middleborough merchants Solomon Snow and George Wilbur. The contents of the school were auctioned, and the property sold on April 19, 1856, to Reverend Perez Lincoln Cushing.

 
Little is known about the Cushing School, in part due to the fact that local newspapers from a portion of the period during which the school was in operation have not survived.  Cushing, a native of Hingham, maintained the boys school much along the lines of its founder, Sylvester Marston, and he was assisted in this work by his wife, Lavinia M. (Parker) Cushing, a former proprietress of Peirce Academy.

Cushing's school proved popular, attracting students from across the commonwealth, and the number of students seeking admission generally exceeded the available places.  The school property was enlarged through the purchase of three adjacent parcels from Joseph T. Wood in 1856 and 1857, providing room for Cushing’s prize-winning livestock and accommodating his hobby of horticulture.  During Cushing's proprietorship, the school, was noted for its extensive pear orchards where more than sixty varieties of fruit were raised.  The pears began to ripen each July, and late pears were available the following May.  In 1862 Cushing's pears took third prize at the Plymouth County Fair.  The following year, they won the blue ribbon.

Despite a severe paralytic stroke in the summer of 1868 that left him temporarily speechless, Cushing rallied from his illness and continued to conduct the school for another five years.  During this period he turned to grape cultivation as a respite from schoolwork.  During the 1871 season, Cushing raised some 100 bushels (two tons) of Concord grapes.

Following the 1874 spring school term, Cusing sold the school, to Reverend Herrick M. Eaton and his son, Amos H. Eaton, under whom it would achieve its greatest success.

Illustrations:
Former Middleboro' Boys' School, 25 East Grove Street, Middleborough, MA, photograph by Mike Maddigan, November 7, 2010.
Constructed in 1854, the residence at 25 East Grove Street served as a boarding school known successively as the Middleboro' Boys' School and the Eaton Family School until 1898.  Used since that time as a commercial property, the school building later housed Heritage Oil.  It is now the home of Cranberry Country Child Care, a perhaps fitting occupant given the building's place in Middleborough's educational history.

Namasket Gazette, May 26, 1854, page 2.
The construction of Reverend Sylvester W. Marston's proposed school was documented by the local newspaper in the spring of 1854.

Engraving, Marston's Family School, mid-19th century.
The former Middleboro' Boys' School building on East Grove Street has changed little in the past century and a half as evidenced by this promotional engraving from the period.  Though the stone walls and landscaping which provided the school with a favorable rural setting have long since disappeared, the structure itself remains relatively unaltered on the exterior.

Middleboro' Boys' Family School notice, Middleboro Gazette, November 19, 1859, page 2.

"Card of Thanks" from The Family School, Middleboro', Mass. circular, 1874.

Assawompsett School Scholars, 1914

Graduating Class, Assawompset School, Lakeville, MA, photograph, 1914.
Photo courtesy of Scheren (Smalley) Dunham.

Among the graduates are Mary Agnes McGuinnness seated in the second row, second from the right. The school's principal, Mrs. Elizabeth Benson, stands at the rear.

Assawompset School Scholars, c. 1913

Students, Assawompset School, Lakeville, MA, photograph, c. 1913.
Photo Courtesy of Scheren (Smalley) Dunham.

Students stand outside the newly-erected Assawompset School which was constructed in 1912 and opened in September of that year.  Pictured along with the students are teacher Esther M. Barnes and school principal Elizabeth H. Benson.

The History of Our Schools: School Street School

"School Street School, Middleboro, Mass.", postcard, John H. Frank, publisher,

Middleborough, MA, c. 1910


During the 1930s, a series of short informal histories of the various Middleborough school houses were compiled by J. Stearns Cushing, Superintendent of Middleborough Schools from 1927 until 1955.  Mr. Cushing prepared these histories for publication as a series in the Middleboro Gazette beginning on February 24, 1933.  With information culled largely from town reports, the series entitled "The History of Our Schools" sought to provide the community with a better understanding of the past history of its public school buildings. Of all the schools documented by Cushing, the School Street School was perhaps the best known to his readers, having served the downtown Middleborough area for over three-quarters of a century.  Notably, the School Street School history is the sole history among Cushing's work to consider not only the existing building, but its predecessor as well

School Street School

The present School Street schoolhouse is now serving its twenty-fifth anniversary year.  I believe however that any historical sketch of the building should not omit its predecessor which served so prominently in education in our town.  Therefore, I shall give a brief history of the Old School Street building as a preface to that of the new school.

The old School Street building at one time contained all the public schools maintained in Middleboro [center].  The building represented the consolidation of three schoolhouses, one located at the corner of Wareham and Wood Streets, another on South Main Street near the site of the residence of the late Hon. M. H. Cushing, and the third on North Main Street on the land now belonging to the Peirce estate and known as the "Orchard Lot".

The report of the school committee for 1850-51 contains the following record of the change: "District No. 37 and a portion of No. 1 have be united to No. 18 the past year.  They have unitedly built a large and commodious schoolhouse, which, with the grounds an improvements cost more than six thousand dollars, making it one of the best schoolhouses in this section of the state.  The house is intended for grade schools, with departments for the primary, intermedial, and grammar grades.  The winter schools commenced in the new house with the Misses Potter as teachers in the primary and intermedial departments, and Ephraim Ward, Jr., in the grammar department, who was succeeded with expiration of engagement by John Willis, whose term has not expired."

The committee reported in March, 1852, that the whole number attending school in District No. 18 during the summer term was 173.  The primary classes were taught at this time by Miss Sarah T. Holmes, who was succeeded the following year by Miss Mary L. Tinkham who completed thirty years of teaching in the School Street building resigning in 1880.  Other teachers whose names are connected with the period when the School Street School building was the only one at the Center are Amos Sherman Jr. who had charge of the grammar department in the late fifties and won much popularity; Ichabod F. Atwood, late of Rock, who was principal about 1861; Matthew H. Cushing about 1867; and Miss Harriet C. Barden who was teacher in the intermedial and grammar departments for about sixteen years, from 1860 to 1876, when she became the wife of the late Joseph E. Beals.  Misses Marion G. Pratt (afterwards Mrs. David G. Pratt), Annie A. Lovell and Lucia A. Drake were also among the teachers in the  different grades in the building.

Upon the completion of the Union Street building in 1875 the primary grades were removed to that building and in 1887 when the High School was completed the grammar grades were removed leaving only the intermediate grades.  In 1888 the front entrances were altered, the winding stairs removed, and the entrances to the upper and lower floors made entirely separate; a furnace was also substituted for stove.  In 1895 the first and second grades were transferred from the Union Street School to the School Street building and the third, fourth and fifth from it to Union Street.

During the period that the new School Street building was under construction the old house was moved to the rear of the lot and fitted to hold three grades while the remainder of the pupils were placed in the two rooms fitted up in the [Congregational] Chapel building.  Later [the old school] building was moved o its present location on Center Street and is known as the Briggs block.

In the report for the year 1906 we find the following report of the new building: "The most important action by the town the past year in the matter of school accommodations was the appointment of a committee to investigate the need of better school accommodations and the subsequent action voting to erect an eight-room brick building on the site of the old building on School Street.  The committee having charge of the erection of the new building consists of Hon. David G. Pratt, William A. Andrews and William M. H.  The committee succeeded in placing the contract so as to keep within the appropriation and the building in every way well equipped for school purposes and an ornament to the town, will be occupied at the opening of the fall term in September  The building is being erected by the firm of F. P. Cummings Co., of Boston according to plans and specifications of Cooper & Bailey, Boston architects"

"It will be an eight-room brick building, with stone trimmings and slate roof, 80 x 85 feet, each room being 28 x 32 feet, 12 feet in height, and capable of seating 48 pupils."

"The teachers' entrance will be in front, the boys' entrance being on the left side and the girls' entrance on the right.  The blackboards will be of the best slate.  The building will be fitted for gas and electricity and a complete system of telephones and electric bells will be installed.  The Fuller-Warren combination furnace and steam heat and ventilation will be used, the rooms being heated by hot air, and the corridors and teachers' rooms by steam.  In order to have the work satisfactorily performed, the building committee secured Mr. John A. Jackson of Brockton as local supervisor."  The building was finished in April 1907 but was not used until September of that year.

Space will not permit the printing of the names of all teachers who have served in this building so the names of the Principals will be here listed.

1907-09
Carl D. Lytle

1910
R. L. Taylor, Jr.

1911-13
Frank E. Perkins

1914
Harry L. Edgcomb

1915
Fred N. O'Coin

1916
Howard Wilbur

1917-18
William L. Bailey

1919-20
Ralph B. Low

1921-23
George N. Hazard

1924-26
George W. Emerson

1927
Russell B. Marshall

1928-32
Lottie N. Lang

The roll of principals following the period covered by Cushing's history is as follows:

1933-39
Lottie N. Lang

1939-42
Donald T. Welch

1944-46
Samuel L. Abbott, Jr.

1946-57
Edward Sawicki

1957-86
Robert W. Gross
(In 1961, the School Street and Union Street Schools were unified as the Central School District of Middleborough at which time Gross was named to serve as principal of the district).

1986-91
Jeffrey C. Stevens


Sources:
Cushing, J. Stearns. "The History of Our Schools: Pleasant Street School". Photostatic copy of original manuscript, 1932-33. Author's collection.
Middleborough Town Reports, 1932-90.

The History of Our Schools: Thompsonville

Facade, Thompsonville School, Thompson

Street, Middleborough, MA, photographed

by Mike Maddigan, March 18, 2011

During the 1930s, a series of short informal histories of the various Middleborough school houses were compiled by J. Stearns Cushing, Superintendent of Middleborough Schools from 1927 until 1955.  Mr. Cushing prepared these histories for publication as a series in the Middleboro Gazette beginning on February 24, 1933.  With information culled largely from town reports, the series entitled "The History of Our Schools" sought to provide the community with a better understanding of the past history of its public school buildings. As far as can be ascertained, the Thompsonville School on Thompson Street was built some time about or before 1854, and it was the oldest serving schoolhouse at the time Cushing penned his history in 1932-33.  Under the present ownership of the East Middleborough 4-H, the "little red schoolhouse" remains Middleborough's best preserved one-room schoolhouse open to the public for events and meetings.

Thompsonville

The Thompsonville school building is the oldest building now [1933] in use in the school system.  Built in the early fifties this building [has] served the children of the Thompsonville section for about eighty years. Although the records do not show particulars as to the building of this school we find in the report of 1881 that "The house was built about twenty-seven years ago, and has the same desks and seats (forty in number) with which it was then furnished.  It is thought, however, that they will answer for some time to come.  The ceiling needs to be replastered at once, and also a part of the walls.  It greatly needs paint within and without, which will doubtless be received during the next vacation.  A good woodhouse is not wanting, and the enclosed yard is all that could be desired."

The school was one of the largest at the time and according to the records was one of the best if not the best school in the town.  From the report of 1855 we find that "This is one of our largest and best schools and with the deep interest taken in the school by the parents we trust it will continue."  That interest evidently did continue for in 1859 we find that "This school reflects great credit upon both its teachers and amply vindicates its right to the high reputation it has long had.  Singularly fortunate in its teachers, this school has few equals, and no superior in town."  Again we find in the report of 1866 that "The pupils show that they appreciate the value of a common school education by remaining in school at a more advanced age than in any other school in town."

The Summer term of 1854 was taught by Miss Adeline V. Wood who was "aware of the duties and obligations of a teacher and endeavored to perform them."

The Winter term was taught by Mr. A. H. Soule whose methods evidently were progressive and a radical change from the older method of teaching for the reports tell us that "the progress of the school was impeded for a time, in consequence of a part of the parents and scholars having prejudged their teacher, and some made objection that his method of teaching was new, that they could not understand it, did not see the use of it etc.  The method that he pursued was to teach his pupils to give a reason for each process, to tell what they knew and how they knew it, thereby teaching them principles, developing the reasoning powers, and educating the whole mind, instead of burdening the memory with abstract rules."

The following year, 1855, the Summer term was taught by Miss Julia M. Caswell and the Winter term by Mr. John Nutting.  No report or record can be found of the teachers of the next two years but beginning with the year 1858 the teachers of the school have been as follows:

1858
Elizabeth King
Emery White

1859
Miss A. M. White
Frank M. Sprague

1860
Mattie Lane
Frank M. Sprague

1861
Mattie Lane
Henry L. Clapp

1862
Augusta W. Williams
John T. Prince

1863
Lucy S. Higgins
Emma C. Brownell

1866
Phebe W. Tracy
Robert P. Harlow

1867
Mary E. Thompson

1868
Phebe A. Alden
W. D. Cornish

1869
Lida J. Parker

1870
Lucretia G. Osborn

1871
Mary E. Thompson

1872
Mary E. Thompson

1873
Mary E. Thompson

1874
Mary E. Thompson

1875
Mary E. Thompson
Ella S. Thompson

1876
Ella S. Thompson

1877
W. Anna Harding

1878
Cora F. Ellis

1879
Clara A. Hagen

1880
Celia F. Stacy
Ida E. Andrews

1881
Annie E. Leach
Gertrude Blackmar

1882
Charlotte C. Nichols
Laura L. Harden

1883
Estelle L. Whitney

1884
Estelle L. Whitney
Hattie L. Blandin
Emma C. Sprague
Annie B. Parker

1885
Annie B. Parker
Nannie M. Morse
Mary A. Livingstone

1886
Mary A. Livingstone
Annie H. Weston

1887
Annie H. Weston
Gertrude M. Robinson

1888
Gertrude M. Robinson
H. Gertrude Holmes

1889
H. Gertrude Holmes

1890
Susan M. Pattangall
Jenny M. Clark

1891-1902
Mary E. Deane

1903-04
Helen A. Hammond

1905
Alice B. LeBaron

1906
Maude DeMaranville

1907
Mabel Morey

1908
Dorothy Shaw

1908-09
Mertie A. Shaw

1909-10
Alice S. Howes

1911
Agnes Fenno

1912-13
Edith M. Eldridge

1914
Mabel E. Stearns

1915
Flora A. M. Moore

1916-17
Mary D. Begley

1918
Mildred I. O'Donnell

1919
Elisabeth W. McGlone

1919-20
Mary E. Deane

1921
Lillian G. Powers
Consuelo R. Goodwin

1922
Ruth S. Sanford

1923-28
Blanche K. Howell

1929-32
Leah M. Boutin

The roll of teachers following the period covered by Cushing's history is as follows:

1933-34
Leah M. Boutin

1934-36
Marianne Medeiros

1936-38
Florence L. Giberti

The Thompsonville School was not reopened following the 1937-38 academic year "due to the lack of sufficient number of children ...and [that it] could not be economically continued in use."  Though its closure at the time was reported as only being temporary, the school in fact never reopened.


Sources:
Cushing, J. Stearns. "The History of Our Schools: Pleasant Street School". Photostatic copy of original manuscript, 1932-33. Author's collection.
Middleborough Town Reports, 1932-38.

The History of Our Schools: West Side School

West Side School, West End Avenue, Middleborough, MA, cabinet card, 1890s.

During the 1930s, a series of short informal histories of the various Middleborough school houses were compiled by J. Stearns Cushing, Superintendent of Middleborough Schools from 1927 until 1955.  Mr. Cushing prepared these histories for publication as a series in the Middleboro Gazette beginning on February 24, 1933.  With information culled largely from town reports, the series entitled "The History of Our Schools" sought to provide the community with a better understanding of the past history of its public school buildings. Much can be added to Cushing's history of the West Side School, including its closure and subsequent rehabilitation as a private home by William Fuller of Middleborough.  For the moment, in addition to a few short background notes, Cushing's brief consideration of the only school ever to be located on the West Side will need to suffice.  In the future, it is hoped that more on the school's history can be shared.

Although not a part of Cushing's published history of the West Side School, the following notes were included with his manuscript and provide a timeline of the town's actions in building the school. 

April 1, 1893 Voted: that a schoolhouse be built on the west side of the Old Colony railroad and completed before the fall term.  Also Voted: that the School Committee be authorized and instructed to procure plans, specifications, and estimates and have them ready at the adjourned town meeting.

April 15, 1893.  The chairman at the school committee meeting made a verbal report ad presented plans or the schoolhouse to be built on the west side of the railroad and presented the following proposition in regard to lot [upon which the school was ultimately built] from Eugene P. LeBaron.

"To the School Committee of the Town of Middleboro

I propose to sell and convey to the town of Middleboo, for the sum of one dollar, a certain lot or parcel of land situated about 315 ft. south of Center Street, between West End Avenue and Warren Avenue, with a frontage on both avenues of 120 ft. and 250 ft. between avenues containing 30,0 square feet of land.  The condition of the sale is, that said land is to be used for school or other town purposes and should said land be used for any other purpose than above specified then the said land shall revert back to me or my heirs.

I would request that all surplus soil or gravel may be deposited on a lot belonging to me within 100 feet of said schoolhouse lot at the expense of the town or builder.

Eugene P. LeBaron"

Voted: that if the town accept the proposition of Eugene P. LeBaron to convey to the town a certain lot or parcel of land for a schoolhouse the School Committee be authorized to purchase for the town the two lots on the southerly side at an expense not exceeding $250 each.

Voted: that the town accept the proposition of Eugene P. LeBaron.

Voted: that the School Committee proceed to build, etc., at a cost not to exceed $6,500.

Voted: $1,000 for heating and furnishing.

At a special Town Meeting Dec. 9, 1893 Resolutions wee written into the record on the death of Mr. LeBaron.

West Side School

During the years just prior to 1894 there was a decided growth of population west of the railroad tracks and the station property.  This growth necessitated the building of a schoolhouse to accommodate the pupils of that neighborhood.  Accordingly the town voted to build a building, the same to be ready for occupancy in September 1894.

The building was completed as specified.  The following description of the building and dedication comes from the records of the School Committee of hat year, John C. Sullivan, Augustus H. Soule, Adeline V. Wood, Augustus Pratt, Ebenezer Pickens, Charles M. Leonard

"It is a wooden structure, two stories in height.  Its exterior dimensions are 54 x 50 feet.  It has four school rooms two on each floor, entirely across one side of the building, with a staircase and teacher's room at each end.  It is heated by two furnaces, has a modern system of ventilation, and is well lighted.  The rooms are furnished with adjustable desks and seats.  It is well adapted for school purposes, and credit is due to the members of the building committee, Messers. George E. Wood and John C. Sullivan, for the manner in which the work was done an the good results obtained."

"The building was dedicated, with appropriate exercises, Friday, October 19, at 2 o'clock P. M.  The corridors and rooms were appropriately decorated with autumn foliage and the national colors.  A large and enthusiastic audience was present, and many availed themselves of the opportunity to inspect the building at the close of the exercises.  Hon. Frank A. Hill, Secretary of the State Board of Education, was the principal speaker."

"Mr. Hill spoke at length, expressing at the outset his embarrassment in adapting his talk to his audience, since there were before him all stages of life from the cradle to the grave.  He congratulated the town upon the completion and equipment of so commodious an edifice.  The dedication of a public school building is a suitable event for the flaming up of an interest that ordinarily is quiet steady, and devoid of the sensational.  The enthusiasm of this occasion will, of course, subside since no zeal can be kept at a white heat and endure, but the people's interest may be trusted to keep on in its old undemonstrative but effective way."

The Order of Exercises at the dedication of the building follows:

Singing - Thrice Hail Happy Day, Pupils of the Primary School
Invocation, Rev. M. F. Johnson
Singing - Song for Our Union, Pupils of the Grammar School
Delivery of the Keys to the Building Committee by the builder, B. F. Phinney
Acceptance of the Keys and their transfer to the School Committee by George E. Wood, Chairman of the Building Committee
Acceptance of the Keys by Mr. Ebenezer Pickens of the School Committee
Singing - Song to the Flag, Pupils of the Primary School
Address - Hon. Frank A. Hill, Secretary of the State Board of Education
Singing - Star Spangled Manner, Pupils of the School
Remarks - Rev. Charles W. Wood, Supt. Asher J. Jacoby, and A. T. Savery
Singing - America
Benediction

The following Principals have served the school since its dedication.

1894-96
Eva M. Hopkins

1897-1903
Frances M. Perry

1904-05
Henry F. Wilson

1906
George L. Weeks

1907-08
Carl D. Lytle

1909-10
Cyril F. Randall

1911-15
Mermie S. Miller

1916-20
Mary H. Head

1921-32
Nellie B. Sawyer

In 1920 there was a congregation of pupils in the Center and a two room portable building was erected at the rear of this building.  The building was paid for by the Peirce Trustees and cost upward of $8,000.  Although this building was intended to be a temporary structure it has now served thirteen years.

The principals of the West Side School following the period covered by Cushing's history are as follows:

1933-38
Nellie B. Sawyer

1938-53
Mary R. Hammond

1953-67
Louis J. Rando
(Following 1961, the West Side School was incorporated into the Northern Elementary School District which included the Pratt Free, Plymouth and Pleasant Street Schools, and later the Flora M. Clark School.  Principals subsequent to this date served as principal of the entire district).

1967-71
Robert E. Desrosiers

1971-88
Franklin E. James

1988-91
Jeanine R. Washburn

During its early years, the West Side School developed a role of being a safety valve for the remaining central schools, taking in pupils from the overcrowded Union Street and School Street Schools. In 1901, crowding in the Main Street grammar school (housed in what was later known as the Bates School on South Main Street) prompted a decision to send all local seventh grade students to the West Side School where there was a vacant room, and to regrade the school. This move was made effective at the opening of the winter term, January 2, 1902.


The West Side School, like the other large central schools, was expensive to maintain, and the 1901 School Committee report remarked that the school had demanded a large expenditure for heating and plumbing, and the following year because of heavy use over the previous nine years the school was deemed as being in need of "some renovation".

The West Side School continued to absorb additional students from the center district schools.  In the autumn of 1904, it took some of the fifth and sixth graders who had before attended the Union Street School in an effort to eliminate overcrowding there.  That same year, the West Side was again noted as being in need of interior renovation.

Because of the school's role in taking in pupils from the other central schools it, in time, became crowded itself, its enrollment increasing fifty percent in the few short years between 1901 and 1904.  The School Committee report for 1905 noted: "The West Side school must be regraded to accommodate even the present membership .... This will nearly fill every seat in these rooms, leaving but little room for pupils to be transferred from the other Central schools. We cannot look to much relief to the West Side building for the overcrowded Central schools, as we have for the past four years."  Three years later, the problem remained: "The membership at the West Side school is rapidly increasing and soon the building can only be used for primary and intermediate grades."

Crowding continued throughout the latter period covered by Cushing's history, and as he notes, a two-room portable building was ultimately purchased and erected at the rear of the building.  Initially intended as merely a stop gap measure, the portable building soon became permanent.  It continued in use until 1938 when the new Union Street School was opened, at which time a hurricane fortuitously destroyed the portable building, thus "solving the problem of how to dispose of it."  The increasing number of students during the next fifteen years, however, warranted the construction of a four-room addition to the school, which was opened March 30, 1953.

The West Side School continued in use until closed in the 1991 centralization of the Middleborough schools.

Sources:
Cushing, J. Stearns. "The History of Our Schools: Pleasant Street School". Photostatic copy of original manuscript, 1932-33. Author's collection.
Middleborough Town Reports, 1932-90.

The History of Our Schools: Thomastown

1903 Map of Middleborough, detail showing the intersection

of Chestnut and Purchase Streets with the location of the

Thomastown School, from New Topographical Atlas of Surveys:

Plymouth County Together with Town of Cohasset, Norfolk

County, Massachusetts (Springfield, MA: The L. J. Richards

Co., 1903).

 During the 1930s, a series of short informal histories of the various Middleborough school houses were compiled by J. Stearns Cushing, Superintendent of Middleborough Schools from 1927 until 1955.  Mr. Cushing prepared these histories for publication as a series in the Middleboro Gazette beginning on February 24, 1933.  With information culled largely from town reports, the series entitled "The History of Our Schools" sought to provide the community with a better understanding of the past history of its public school buildings. The Thomastown School was located on Chestnut Street near its intersection with Purchase Street.  Though the school accomodated a large geographic area, it remains historically one of Middleborough's least known one-room schools.  

Thomastown

In 1871, the School Committee consisting of Elbridge Cushman, A. H. Soule, and E. W. Drake reported as follows:

"At the last annual town meeting, $1,500.00 was placed in our hnads to meet continge nt expenses, and we were authorized to build a school at Thomastown.  We have united the Thomastown and Rocky Meadow schools, and shall have no further use for the old houses for school purposes.  The town will dispose of them as they see fit.  In their stead we have erected a new house on Chestnut Street, 25 x 36 feet, capable of seating fifty-six scholars, with a cellar for wood.  The cellar was built by the day.  The house was built under contract by Mr. James P. Sparrow, in a manner highly satisfactory to your committee.  In locating the hose, we endeavored to consult the wishes of interested parties as much as possible, but as might be expected we found 'many men of many minds',  We kept in view the greatest good to the greatest number, and the majority of your committee believe the house to be located on the most convenient and most eligible site.  It is furnished with ample blackboard, accommodations, the seats are of an approved and improved pattern, and withall it is a commodious and pleasant school-room.  We trust it may be used and not abused, and that the people of that section will cheerfully aid other schools in securing equal advantages."

In the same report we find an itemized report of the expense of the house.
Expense of Cellar.
Arad Thomas     $10.00
Josiah Thomas     18.00
S. Wrightington     27.00
Freeman T. McLathlin     2.00
George Bennett     36.00
J. P. Sparrow     14.68
Eliab Wood     2.59
Total     110.18

Expense of House.
Jas. P. Sparrow, per contract     $1,300.00
extras     3.98
B. L. Boomer, Painting     85.22
Desks     188.00
Freight     5.00
G. H. Doane, stovepipe, etc.     16.50
Subtotal     $1,598.70
Freeman T. McLathlin, lot     10.50
Total expense of house    $1,719.38
Total  $2,061.41

During the sixty-two years that the building has been in use there have been fifty-two different teachers in service there.  The names and dates of service follow:

1871
John B. Thomas
Lucia A. Thompson

1872
John B. Thomas
Mary E. White
Ellen Braley

1873
Judith T. Norton
Ella Thompson
Minot Hartwell

1874
Helen Harlow

1875
Lottie E. Hammond
W. Anna Harding

1876
W. Anna Harding

1877
W. Anna Harding

1878
Endora Lawrence
Irene A. Bent
Lena A. Chubbock

1879
Irene A. Bent
Clara Leonard
Mary E. Hammond

1880
Mary E. Hammond

1881
Abbie A. Mills

1882
Abbie A. Mills
Jennie Hammond

1883
Jennie Hammond
Lura B Bisbee

1884
Sara E. Paine
Rose M. Eastman

1885
Rose M. Eastman

1886
Almeda B. Eldridge
Irena S. Nightingale

1887
Laura M. Pease
Ella F. Kilbreth

1888
Ella M. Kilbreth
Mary L. Osborne
Florence L. Deane

1889
Florence L. Dean
Sadie O. Morse

1890
Sadie O. Morse

1891
Sadie O. Morse

1892
Sadie O. Morse

1893
Sadie O. Morse

1894
Eva M. Hopkins
Bessie Churbuck

1895
C. Augusta Thomas

1896
Frances M. Perry

1897
Bertha E. Bryant

1898
Bertha E. Bryant

1899
Lucy E. Merrihew

1900
Lucy E. Merrihew

1901
Lucy E. Merrihew

1902
Lucy E. Merrihew

1903
Isabelle C. Butler
Annie Hill

1904
Ethel Roberts

1905
Ethel Roberts

1906
Ethel M. Harvey

1907
Josie L. Russell

1908
Alice M. Ward

1909
R. Kenney

1910
R. Kenney

1911
Daisy E. Stenhouse

1912
Alma A. Knowlton
Fred N. O'Coin

1913
C. Harold Striley

1914
C. Harold Striley

1915
Grace E. Bailey
Bertha A. Snell
Maude DeMaranville

1916
Freda S. Goodell

1917
Freda S. Goodell
Anne R. McFarlin

1918
Dorothy A. Hulbert

1919
Dorothy A. Hulbert
Elena Manley

1920
Myrtle Perkins

1921
Olive M. Kidd

1922
Olive M. Kidd

1923
Olive M. Kidd

1924
Margaret E. Croutworst

1925
Elena Manley

1926
Elena Manley

1927
Elena Manley

1928
Elena Manley

1929
Elena Manley

1930
Elena Manley

1931
M. Louise Nutter

1932
M. Louise Nutter

The Rocky Meadow house, the underpinning stone, and the outbuilding was sold to S[ylvanus] Hinckley for the sum of $40.25.  The old house at Thomastown together with the lot was sold to Z. Leonard for $87.00 during that year.

The school at the present time [1933] is the smallest in membership of the Suburban schools and one of the very few that have five grades.

The teachers who served in the period following Cushing's history were:

1933-39
M. Louise Nutter

1939-41
Nathalie T. Crowell

Due to its small enrollment, the Thomastown school was closed at the conclusion of the 1940-41 academic year.  In 1945, the schoolhouse lot, including the schoolhouse, was sold at public auction to L. Frank Long of North Street, Middleborough, for $400.  By 1967, the building was in such an advanced state of decay that it was condemned by town officials.  When the owner at the time failed to contact the town, the Middleborough Board of Selectmen ordered the building burned as a public health and safety nuisance.

Sources:
Cushing, J. Stearns. "The History of Our Schools: Forest Street School". Photostatic copy of original manuscript, 1932-33. Author's collection.
Middleboro Gazette, August 15, 1941; September 21, 1945; October 19, 1945; "Condemned Houses to be Demolished", June 29, 1967:1; "Board to Have Buildings Burned", August 10, 1967.
Middleborough Annual Town Reports, 1933-41.