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Page 13 text:
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v V X X ' ggfy, . x, -xg ' K Y , XNXXX x - 3 1 l f u Q: X 'X Y Y- I - XX I-574 X, sl: ' . l X , V '44 1, P ,..,. . ll xi - V S, - X' .Xl N B I-1 , 9 - N' ,, Tx 'qu T, : i ' 'TN-V ' T' vi' , gt N 7 . V X, I The Little Red Schoolhouse By THE REV. GLENN TILLEX' NIORSE, B.D. To all who love Governor Dummer Academy there is one object especially dear, the little old red schoolhouse. We are proud of the imposing beauty of the Mansion House, home of Lt.-Governor VVilliam Dummer, founder of the Academy. It conveys to us some of the stately character and generous hospitality of that honored gentleman, who served the colony of Massachusetts Bay faithfully and was a loyal subject of his king and country. Time after time he was honored by his fellow men. Through his long years of public service he made an honorable record and, at the end, left a lasting heritage which has blessed and enriched many genera- tions. His public spirit and generosity in founding the Academy, the first of its kind in America, still thrills our hearts with grateful appreciation. The Mansion House was a proper setting for so dignified and excellent a gentleman. VVe love the broad acres in this beautiful landscape, with the arching elm trees waving their graceful branches high over head, and the extensive meadows stretch- ing far and wide to give us ample room. The old and the new buildings are scenes of precious memories that will linger in our minds and be recalled in fond reveries when we are far away. The landmarks are engraved upon our hearts, seeming to cluster about and to be linked with the old milestone. - But there is one object most dear, the little old red schoolhouse, for which we have a feeling ofprotective affection, akin to the love for a dear old mother to whom we are indebted for our lives and to whom we give long, tender care. The little house was built in 1762, as the mother building of the school at that time founded here. It is so little and yet was large enough to house the infant school. Generations have come and gone, in numbers far outgrowing it, but here the little schoolhouse has remained in constant, useful service. Now, in its old age, one hundred and seventy-five long years, especial care must be taken to preserve and perpetuate this beloved object if we would have it longer. The anniversary this year seemed a good time to celebrate the completion of so long a service in the oldest private boarding school in America by saving and restor- ing this original schoolhouse. Our object has been to preserve all the old material that remained and to replace exactly what was too far gone for longer service. For our architect, we have been fortunate in securing Mr. VVilliam Graves Perry, who has won fame in this kind of work by directing the restoration of YVilliamsburg, Virginia. VVe can depend upon his skill and experience. After careful examination of the original foundations and the construction of the building, he drew the plans. The restoration is giving us our treasured relic as nearly as possible in its ap- pearance and condition at the time the school was started, on that first day of March, 1763, and furnished with contemporary objects which might have been there then. VVe have had revealed to us a long-forgotten door in the side of the building. sw ., .t, , .I qv. . , , p ' . - de ' 4:', ffq-'fgs'i X 'Y mer- 1 ' ' A hairs. P - . a-if' ,ff ll 9
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Page 14 text:
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533 3.5, ,, 1708 . -3 'A Xi X x t X tx Xi 7 f X , , f, I Y X. 1 x. X S x,X3 ' N V te 3 1 B txtt Hy. I f X f 7 l z f X , f 1 1 I 'f 1 -E ' aa X- ' f X s X '- . M 1 f f f , , ' ' iv 1 - -' 'e ' . 1' ' '- x' Q 'X ' -'V f L' ' ' - Z k sb - . gb X, . x -e is .6 2 X. X . ' I . I A , I Y 1: Q , 1 , A , . , Y Y - X. ,F -X 3 - A ., 1 . , ---, -M ' v X-, E Q 4- A ff I f f ' i'1 l,, f ,. 'X .- e 'o.. if X . s, 'fi 4 '- ' 'wif ' 4 ' A T W ' x s- , x c f I - - 1 w We enter a narrow hallway with rows of wooden pegs for the boys' hats and coats and there is a bootjack to remove their heavy boots so necessary in the old colonial days of deep mud and snow. On each side is a schoolroom. A stone chimney in the center of the west side gives a corner fireplace ofold-time brick in each room. The twenty-eight boys of 1763 sat on long, backless forms and used simple desks, each accommodating two or three pupils. On the desks, old pewter ink pots and quill pens offer means of writing. Of course, sand-shakers are there instead of blotters. ln one room is a high desk at which the master might stand or sit on a high stool. ln the other is a seventeenth-century desk, which conceals twelve secret drawers, and which has on one side a long box for quill pens. Standing in a corner is a dunce stool, with a pointed cap for any boy whose naughtiness required him to be pilloried. A tall clock marks the time, but with only the hour hand, so one must guess the minutes. In its front door is an old bull's-eye glass, as though the clock were keep- ing watch on how one spends one's time. For the very small boy, a hornbook is provided to teach him how to read. The small boy's boots with heavy tops and copper toes are drying near the fireplace. A portable foot-warmer long enough to accommodate three pairs offeet stands near-by. Upon the wall hangs an oil portrait of King George II. The painter was John Wollaston, who came to America and made quite a reputation as a portrait painter about 1758, painting the mother of George Washington, Washington's stepchild- ren, George Whitefield, and numerous others. King George III was then prayed for every day by his faithful subjects in the school. This was an English school, and here is the old English flag for the boys to salute, as we salute the Stars and Stripes today. Even the English Hag has changed, this one bears the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew for England and Scotland and preceded the union with Ireland and the cross of St. Patrick. The English Hag is here, as it was in 1763. Today we love the Stars and Stripes. An American flag is given at each Com- mencement and, after it has fiown over our school for a year, it is presented as one of the most coveted and honored prizes to the student then graduating whose record at the school is considered by the faculty most creditable. It is called the Morse Flag in memory of Anthony Morse, a first settler of Newbury in 1635. So we honor our Hag. But in 1763 there were no Stars and Stripes nor any United States ofAmerica. George Washington was then a young officer in the English army, lighting against the French for England and King George. Governor Dummer Academy is older even than our nation. This should cause us to appreciate our school's great age and to value its traditions. The school has witnessed the birth of our nation and its growth. A swinging bell hangs above the end ofthe gabled roof, and its sweet tones peal far and wide to call the school together. This old bell came from Boston. Vile had the opportunity to obtain a bell made by Paul Revere, but that was too late for us. What a little school it was on that windy March day, one hundred and seventy- five years ago when Master Moody called his twenty-eight boys to assemble and to start the sessions that have continued as Governor Dummer Academy! - 1 5, . ,V I Jirflml I c ,- L-RQNLVX. A . ,i., ,A h, ,wif g, F ,nltvv te.: V' ' ' '--YLJLTL1 .ll Il 1. . . sg, NA , IO
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