CHAPTER V THE SCHOOL DAME THE idler in the old cemetery at Cambridge, just across from Harvard University, may still read this tribute to Mrs. Murray, who died in 1707, at the age of sixty-two: "This good school dame No longer school must keep, For children's sake to weep." The school-teacher has always been a respected member of society in this country, and Mrs. Murray was one of a host, little known to fame but honored in their day. Both the English and the Dutch brought with them to the New World advanced ideas about popular education, and scarcely had they built their houses when they began to plan for schools. The first school in New Amsterdam (now New York City) was started in 1633.1 Boston had a school in 1635.2 The earliest colonial law requiring the establishment of schools, passed in Massachu 1 Randall, p. 3. 2 Memorial History of Boston, vol. IV, p. 237. setts in 1647,1 decreed that every town of fifty families should maintain a common school, and every town of one hundred families, a Latin school; the expenses for these schools might be raised either directly from the parents of the children who attended or from the town at large. As the former method seems to have been in considerable favor, it is not always possible to trace the existence of the school through the town records, as was the case where the teacher's salary was voted by the town fathers. A study of the early records, however, shows that by 1670 or 1680 the common schools were frequently taught by women. It should be borne in mind that in early days women by no means had a monopoly even in the lower grades; it is not certain that they had a majority. The Latin schools, which were in essence college preparatory schools, were taught exclusively by men for many years. The fathers seem at first to have given about the same reward to women as to men for teaching these primary schools. The reward, however, was not such as to arouse envy in the heart of any overworked and underpaid teacher of to-day. The town records of Woburn, Massachusetts, state that the selectmen appointed Widow Walker "to be a 1 Mass. Colonial Records, vol. II, p. 203. school dame for the year 1686, and to have tenn shillings for her labour, as the other [mistresses before her] had." And Mrs. Walker furnished the schoolhouse too! The records of Woburn and of other towns confirm the implication that this was a common rate of pay.2 The price rose in time, however. In 1715, the town of Lexington appropriated fifteen pounds for the support of a school through the year, taught by a man. In the following year, this was modified as follows: 3 May 14, 1716, - Voted that all scollers that com to school, to pai two pens per week: for Reeding, and 3: pens for righting and siphering and what that amounts to at the years End: so much of the fifteen pounds to be deducted and stopt in the Town Treasury whilst the next year. In 1717, it was felt that a single school was not sufficiently convenient for the younger children, and that other schools were needed in different parts of the township. The record for July 21 states that it was voted: yt Clark Laurances wife and Epheram Winships wife keep Schools; from ye day of ye Date hereof; until ye last day of October next following; and if 1 Town Records of Woburn, Mass., vol. III, p. 93. they have not Scholers sufficient as to number; to amount to 5 shillings per week; at 3 pence per Scholer per week; Dureing ye Terme above Sd; Then ye Town to make up what Shall be wanting of ye 5 Shillings per week. One hopes that the "3 pence per Scholer per week' indicates that a study of "Righting and Siphering" was no longer optional; a study of spelling doubtless appeared unnecessary. The records of nearly every town bear the names of some school-mistresses. A careful study of the records of Dedham, Massachusetts, to learn as much as possible regarding the early schools, whether taught by men or women, has been made by Carlos Slafter, in the "Dedham Historical Review," beginning July, 1890. Women, evidently, made their appearance in the teaching profession much later in Dedham than in many towns, for the earliest whom Mr. Slafter finds was Mary Green, who taught the summer session of 1757. It was not the custom in those days to waste valuable time in long summer vacations; and women were favored in many places for teaching the summer term while men were busy on the farms. In Dedham, where there were several different schools, so that distances should not be too great for the younger children, eight different women figure as teachers of the summer sessions, for the years 1757, 1758, and 1759. Some of these women taught in subsequent years also. In 1760, the winter session was first entrusted to a woman, Mehetabel Ellis. Thereafter, women frequently taught the entire year. Nineteen different women are named as teachers between 1757 and 1775 One of these women evidently had ideas about the place of woman in the teaching profession. Susannah Brittano, who taught the summer session for four years, died in 1764, leaving all her personal estate, valued at about $100, to establish a school in the Third Parish of Dedham to be taught by a woman.1 The historian of the Third Parish of Dedham names fifteen teachers who were paid out of this fund, before rising prices made a rearrangement necessary. But one can feel quite sure that the object of Miss Brittano's bequest has been attained; and that a woman still teaches school in the Third Parish. Sources of information about schools are more abundant and available regarding the towns in New England than regarding the South, but women did their part there also. The author of "Notable Southern Families" 2 records the achievements of Kate Brownlow, who with her husband James 1 Slafter, p. 113 ff. 2 Armstrong, vol. I, p. 39. |