Bridgewater State University - Alpha Yearbook (Bridgewater, MA)

Page 26 text:

22 NORMAL OFFERING old men and women. At that time there were about sixty families. They were an industrious, thrifty, and temperate people, and also a religious community. They were intensely interested in the welfare of their children. One of their popular institutions was the Rockville Lyceum, in which many boys and men learned to discuss, intelligently, vital questions. The Lyceum also published a weekly paper, called the Rockville Pioneer, which was edited by the girls. Nearly every housewife did her own work, and the men worked from sun to sun. Almost all labor was done by hand. The highest wage paid to common laborers was 31.50, boys worked for S. 50 a day. Some time near 1870 the factory burned, and soon after the grand old store was destroyed by fire. Nearly all of the old settlers moved away. The Village of Rockville was absorbed in the Town of Millis, and the Rockville Post Office was abolished. From the families living in the district when the factory burned have gone out into the world two Selectmen of the Town of Millis, three ministers, one doctor, one college professor, two school superin- tendents, two bank presidents, one noted watchmaker, two inventors, five exceptionally skillful machinists, two head salesmen in two of the

Page 25 text:

NORMAL OFFERING 21 heated by a furnace, and ventilated by a specially constructed ventila- tor. The walls were hung with maps of all parts of the world. A map of Massachusetts contained all of the counties and the towns of each county. There was a large globe, a Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, and plenty of blackboards. There were no free textbooks or supplies. Slates were generally used instead of paper. The teacher had a large, substantial table, with a drawer for books, etc. i The schoolhouse stood in the center of a lot about two hundred feet square, which afforded ample room for play and the cultivation of flower gardens. There was a deep well that supplied good drinking water. There were no vacations except Saturdays. The men taught in the fall and winter, and the Women in spring and summer. Probably Horace Mann would say that they were good persons, but not good teachers. But they certainly imparted to those under their charge many things that make for intelligent and noble living, and they had a way of teaching obedience and a sacred regard for truth. When the Civil War broke out there were so many men who enlisted from this district that none were left to work the engines at a fire but

Page 27 text:

NORMAL OFFERING 23 largest retail stores in Boston, eight teachers, and many others who have benefited mankind. I The first person from Rockville who graduated from Bridgewater was Willard Penniman Clark of the 27th class 118495. He taught but one term, but served several years on the school committee, thereby communicating to this region the Bridgewater Spirit, which was kept alive for many years. He lived to the age of about eighty years, and held many important town offices. The names of the other Bridgewater graduates are Hannah Miller, Melissa Catherine Gay, Philander Augustus Gay, Nathaniel Seaver Keay, Edward Payson Fitts, and Willard F. Jones. These graduates have rendered a total of one hundred and sixteen years of teaching service. The Reverend Horace Walker, son of Dean Walker, was minister at the Central Square Congregational Church in Bridgewater for several years. Thus it will be seen that there is a strong tie between Bridgewater and Old Rockville, Mass. In closing this article, the writer wishes to give a tribute of affec- tion to the late Albert Gardner Boyden, who was his teacher, and to his son, Arthur Clarke Boyden, whom he has known for fifty years, and who is now nobly doing his part to give more light to the world, with the torch that his father handed to him. A Minh By Adelaide H. Huard T0 be a bird, and soar on high When all things earthly seem distressed, To sail the cloud-flecked summer sky, When on our breasts life's cares have pressed, To taste the peace of heights unguessed, To bathe in sunset's purple glow And by the dying sun be blessed, Or greet the dawn, could this be so, I would be happy then, I know.