Hamilton High School - Hamiltonian Yearbook (South Hamilton, MA)

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6 The Hamiltonian often remembered. Born in London in 1614 or 1615, Cheever was educated at Emmanuel College where he received a classical education that fitted him for his life work of teaching. In 1637 he came to America where he began his teaching career, teaching at New Haven, Ipswich, and Charlestown, thus making a consid- erable reputation before becoming master of the Boston Latin School in 1670. He taught for thirty-eight years, receiving as compensation the use and possession of the school house and sixty pounds or $300 per year. He required very strict discipline in his classes, and his pupils learned to tell when his temper was about to escape him by his habit of stroking his long beard as the danger point drew near. In 1708, after seventy years of teaching experience, thirty-eight of which were spent at the Boston Latin School, Cheever died and was universally mourned by all who knew him. He was buried from the schoolhouse, honored by the presence of the governor, justices, councillors, min- isters and others whom, with their fathers and grandfathers, he had taught with vigorous use of the rod and rule. And now, considering the circumstances and data which I have given you, compare the early American school, of which the Boston Latin was an example, with the modern American school. Compare the early American school teacher, Ezekial Cheever, for example, with the modern school teacher, and you will better under- stand the progress which cities and towns of the United States have made in the great work of educating their children to enable them to govern and care for them- selves in the future. ■ — John Peabody, ’35. SUCCESS: WHAT IS IT? S uccess is that elusive element for which each one of us is striving. It is the objective of every student and the aim of evervone in life. The question, “Success: What is it?’’ brings as many answers as there are minds to hear it. Upon the answer depends the trend of one’s life work. Success is nothing tangible. It cannot be sold or inherited; and, to the most of us, it is as evasive as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. To your next door neighbor, success perhaps means fame. He considers himself successful if he heads some large organiza- tion. If he occupied a position of less importance, he woidd think of himself as a failure. In reality, his broader views, wider sympathies, and deeper insights, make him a great success. Working for fame alone does not bring true success. Young people of today may think they know where the road to success lies, but when they start out in their quest of it, they realize the error they have made be- fore they complete the first mile. Book-learning brings to us the wisdom and experience of others, hut it is only a means to success. People may he most deeply learned and yet be very unsuccess- ful in every day living because of an in- ability to apply their knowledge. By his own efforts. Abraham Lincoln rose to the highest position his country had to offer. He knew no language hut his own. He had a very slight acquaintance with the world’s literature, onlv a general outline knowledge of the world’s history ; he never studied music. Art and other numerous advantages were practically closed to him. Yet in spite of all this he was successful. Why? Because Lincoln’s perseverance was of a striking qualitv. He kept at every enterprise he started until he had reached his goal. He never worked for the monev reward, or for the honor he might achieve, hut because he desired to accomplish what he considered best for humanity. Good health is the foundation of all possible success in life. Affect one and you affect the other. The successful life calls for sacrifice, self-control, moderation, and poise. At all times it is necessary to have the unhampered use of all of one’s powers and one’s intellect. IMaterial suc- cess should not he our only goal. There is the story of the man who died and went to heaven. Saint Peter was

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The Hamiltonian 5 Accordinti; to these records, a general meet- ing was held on “the thirteenth of ye second month 1635,’’ which is April 23 accord- ing to the modern calendar, and the fol- lowing decision was reacheil : “Likevvdse it is generally agreed upon that brother Philemon Pormort shall he intreated to become schulemaster for the teaching and nurturing of children with us.’’ He was to be supported by the income from a thirty acre tract of land at a certain Muddy River which is now supposed to have been a part of Brookline. It seems that iVIr. Pormort wanted a salary in addi- tion to his living e.xpenses ; and the records indicate that at a general meeting of the more wealthy residents of Boston, a suffi- cient amount of money was pledged to guarantee the schoolmaster his first year’s salary. The records also show that some time later the rents from Deer Island and Spec- tacle Island were allotted to the support of the school. At the town meeting of August 1645, it was voted to allow the master a salary of perhaps $250, and $150 to the usher, or assistant teacher, and to furnish the master with a house. Pormort, however, was unable to enjoy these benefits, as he was forced in 1638 to leave Boston in consequence of his favor of the Liberal Doctrines of Anne Hutch- inson. He was succeeded as schoolmaster by a Daniel Maude. It would seem that the school until 1645 had been taught in the homes of the masters, for the records indicate that no provision was made by the town for a public school-building until that date. At that time, a building was erected, probably on the land now occupied bv the chancel or eastern part of King’s Chapel, and the street on which it fronted became School House Lane, and still later School Street bv which name it is now known. Some twenty years later, in 1665, the old school was rebuilt and made larger to accommodate the rapidly increasing num- ber of students. The building was used in its rebuilt form until 1704 when it was razed and a new building was erected on the same site, the plans and specifications of which are on file now in the City Hall at Boston. A comparison between that building and the modern schoolhouse will show conclusively the great strides of progress which have been taken in the con- struction of public schoed buildings. The Boston Latin School building of 1704 was about forty feet long, by about twenty-five feet wide, with walls eleven feet high, and a gabled roof. The interior was very roughly planked with odd widths and lengths of knotty wood. 4 ' here was ikj attempt at plastering or finishing the walls or ceiling in any ' vvay ; they were plainly, boarded with coarse, ill-matched, lumb ' .r. There were two stories each consisting of one room. The master of the school taught in the lower room. There were eight windows in that room ranged about the walls at odd intervals; heat was provided in winter by a huge brick fireplace, kept supplied with fuel by the students. 4 ' he furniture consisted of six long benches fashioned by splitting large logs into halves, placing them with the flat side up and preventing them from rolling by strong braces. 4 ' here was also a rough table for the master’s books and the Bible. Incidentally, the Bible was read at the opening of classes when the school first opened, a custom which has been continued to the present date. There was a rough desk for the master, and a smaller one for the usher ; this completed the furnishings of the large classroom. The (Jther and smaller class- room upstairs was used by the usher and here recitations were heard. In 1748 the land upon which this Innld- ing was situated was granted to King’s Chapel in order that the church might be enlarged. 4 ' his necessitated biulding a new edifice to house the school, and conse- cjuently a brick biulding was erected on the other side of Schoid Street w here the Parker House now stands. The constantly increasing number of students soon made another school, a larger one, seem advisable. In 1812. therefore, the old building wuas razed and an edifice of much greater capacity wuis built, but even this did not hold the influx of students, and twm years later the school w as moved to a larger building on Bedford Street. (4f all the earl - head-masters of the Latin School, one Ezekial Cheever was the best known, most celebrated, and most

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The Hamiltonian 7 showing him through his realm. They came to a magnificent house, wath beau- tiful gardens and lawns and an abundance of flowers. In fact, everything about the place spelled happiness and contentment. “Who lives here. Saint Peter?’’ asked the visitor, and was surprised to hear the name of a woman who had done menial work in the man’s house down on earth. At the far end of the street, off by itself, stood a shabby, dilapidated, ill-kept house ■ — hardly more than a hut — in striking con- trast to the lovely place they had just visited. “And who lives here?” was the ne.xt question. “You will live here,” said Saint Peter. “Me! Why should my servant have such an elaborate house while 1 live in this undesirable place?” “Well,” answered the good Saint, “We did our best with the material sent ahead.” Which one do you think had attained success ? To me, that man is truly a success who puts service above self, serving others with no thought of material gain for himself, and being tolerant with those not in ac- cord with his ideas and practices. May I illustrate this with a portion of a poem by Sam Walter Foss? Let me live in the house by the side of tlie road Vhere the race of men go by. The men who are good, the men who arc bad. As good and as bad as I ; I would not sit in the scorner’s seat. Nor hurl the cynics ban, Let me live in the house by the side of the road And be a friend to man. George Arliss, famous star of the stage and screen, remarked, “A desire to work hard for the sake of doing a good joh leads to happiness. An ambition for power and money leads to discontent.” People who have tlie use of large amounts of money often consider themselves successful. But are they? Does money bring happiness? Not always. For instance, take Scrooge in Dickens’ “Christmas Carol.” He had a sufficient amount of hoarded money but was he happy ? No, because he had a guilty conscience and only after he was shown the way to true happiness did he realize that it was secured through the spending of his money for the benefit of others. Happiness in j ' our life work is synony- mous with success. To reach the top of the ladder means hard work and it may take years to accomplish, but once you are there you possess something which no man can ever take away from you — success. As the old saying goes — “Pluck, Perseverance, and Honesty spell Success.” Our constantly changing conditions in life demand that he who would win must meet each change with all his powers alert ; with a push he opens the door of opportunity and every new condition is a challenge which arouses all of his energies. Success, then, engages all of one’s efforts and should give to one true contentment, happiness, health, as well as a fair share of wealth. Class History TN September, 1931, a group of awkward, unsophisticated freshmen climbed, with faltering steps, the stairs of Hamilton High Scliool to the ninth grade. We looked ahead with pleasant anticipation of the good times we were to have and, although our four years of education did include good times, it also included much hard work. We entered the ninth grade in what was then called the South School with Mrs. Ramer as our home room teacher and IMr. Spalding as our principal. One of our first activities was to hold a class election. The officers elected were: President, Robert Smith; Vice-President, Richard Peale ; Secretary, Margaret Sargeant ; ' Freasurer, Alice Stone. d ' he Student Council System was inaugurated into our school and three members were chosen to represent our class. On October ninth, the seniors held a party for the freshmen — and what a party it was! Blindfolded, we were led through the earthly Hades and received sufficient humiliation to make us realize that we were not quite so important as we had thought we were. But, know-