Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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the terms of the bequest. There- fore, by a legal procedure, the terms were changed for a more logical purpose. The interest from the money accumulated as there was little use for it. Later much of the money was used for building a schoolhouse which is called the Bur- ley School, named after Mr. Burley. Robert Payne also desired that Ipswich might have schools for the education of its future citizens. He carried out his plan in somewhat the same way in which Augustine Heard provided for the library. He built a schoolhouse at his own cost and held it until 1863. Then he gave this schoolhouse to a board of trustees and it became the Payne School. Although this school is not very imposing now, it has stood the wear and tear of many years and has proved itself even more dura- ble than Manning High School. William Payne was also interest- ed in the welfare of his town. He gave Little Neck to Ipswich, where it might build a schoolhouse. How- ever, as it was not deemed wise to l)uild a schoolhouse there, it has been used otherwise. At present it seems that Little Neck has been of more value in its present use than it might have been if it had been used for the building of a school- house. The town now holds Little Neck and the income from it is ap- propriated toward the maintenance of our high school. Little Neck is now one of the most beautiful sum- mer colonies in this vicinity and it adds greatly to the attraction and beauty of the town. The most important of all the funds is the Manning Fund. Di . Thomas Manning had always been a kind and generous man. He was an ardent supi)orter of the town and helped his town in many ways. How- eve! , when he tried to provide for a high school in Ipswich, he be- came the innocent cause for much trouble and scandal. He left sixty thousand dollars in the hands of executives to be invested in good stocks and to be given to trustees at the end of twenty years “for the purpose of maintaining a free high school for the use of youths of both sexes of good moral character and deportment and of suitable age.” The first point of combat was that he was incompetent to make out a will. His son thought he was de- prived of his proper share of the money and therefore fought for his rights. However, the Manning High School was built in 1874 and it still stands. But at this point the misfortunes began. For several years, for some reason or other, the trustees made no report upon the condition of the funds. Because of this, a bill was passed in the Massa- chusetts legislature forcing the trustees to make a public account- ing each year. At present the fund amounts to about forty thousand dollars, part of which is invested in the Colonial Building. This re- turns about two percent and some- times less on the investment. An- other part of the money is invested in the so called Masters house which was acquired by the trustees to re- lieve the local bank of a bad mort- gage. The major portion of the ) est of the funds is invested in Mexi- can railway bonds of questionable value. It can be plainly seen that all of these investments are doubt- ful and certainly cannot be of any great value. Tliere are good results and bad results from this Manning Fund. Of course, the best result is that we did get a high scliool. An- other good feature is that li)swich has never had to build a high school 21

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kept a steady record of liis voyages, his hai ' dships, and joys throughout liis life. He dwelt in Ipswich in his declining years after having ' seen life in many foreign counti-ies. He was a kind, generous iver all his life. In his old age he had planned for the building of a library for which he t)rovided in his will. He selected the site and purchased the land for a library. He became somewhat bolder and took upon himself the selection of plans and the oversight of the erection of the building. He appointed the trus- tees, told them what he wanted them to do, and selected a libi ' arian. He approved the selection of three thousand volumes of books, and seven thousand more were added by his four nephews after his death. He provided for a library that might be self-supporting at all times and and free to everyone. His total be- quest exceeded forty thousand dol- lars. Daniel Treadwell had likewise made i)lans all his life for the pro- vision of a free public library in Ipswich. In his will he stated, “I give .... to my native Town of Ips- wich all my real estate situated in the said Town, to have and to hold the same forever — the income whereof, together with the sum of four thousand dollars .... shall be appropi’iated by the said Town for the founding of a library, to contain a collection of the standard works of the best authors, ancient and modern, but to the exclusion of the cheap literature and party newspa- pers of the day, for the use of the inhabitants of Ipswich and the neighboring towns. And it is my wish that the build- ing of the said library shall be erect- ed upon the land purchased by me near the Stone Bridge (meaning Choate Bridge) a few years since, that it shall be made fireproof and used exclusively for the purposes of a library.” As Mr. Heard had provided for the same object, one or the other had to change his will. Mr. Heard erected the library building and in- stalled a library. Of course this was a keen disappointment to Mr. Treadwell but after consultation with the trustees, he made a change in his will by which he gave his lands, estate, and other properties mentioned in the former will for the further endowment and support of a free public library in Ipswich. Now we have a library where any- one can go to enjoy himself by good reading. The collection of books was one of the best in the country as it contained many rare books and first editions. Unfortunately, how- ever, some of these seem to be miss- ing at the present time. But we have a collection of books now to interest young and old of various tastes. William Burley is another man who has added to the benefactions of the town of Ipswich. He was a native of Ipswich and interested in the welfare of the town, who died in Beverly but remembered his old home town in his will. He be- queathed two thousand dollars of which fifty dollars was to be paid yearly for two years after his death to teach poor children to read and to instruct them in the principles of the Christian religion. But it would be quite difficult to carry out the terms of the will as there are so many who would be eligible to re- ceive this instruction. Now every child goes to school to learn to read and most children go to church or Sunday school. The trustees, realiz- ing this, were in favor of changing 20

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in the three hundred years of its his- tory. And, fifty-six years ago Ips- wich did have one of the best high schools in Massachusetts. But that was fifty-six years ago. An unfor- tunate feature is that the people of Ipswich have never been wholly conscious of their responsibility to the youth of the town, feeling that the Manning Fund should take the place of legitimate taxes for the support of schools. Secondly, it does not set a very good example to the youth in the handling of sa- cred trusts. What should we have done if our high school had not been left to us by this man ? A fund to help further the edu- cation of worthy boys and girls af- ter graduation from high school was given by Roxanna Cowles. As she had been an instructor at Vassar College and a woman much inter- ested in education, she realized the value of a college education. In her will she left ten thousand dollars, called the Eunice Cowles fund, to be used to help Ipswich boys and girls of good character who had graduated from Manning High School with an average of at least 85% to continue their education. She provided that two hundred dol- lars might be given each year to each of two students who were deemed worthy of this aid. This is an excellent aid to any boy or girl ambitious to go to college and it should be an inspiration for any- one who enters high school desiring to further his education to do his school work faithfully. The Richard T. Crane, Jr. Fund is one from which all the school chil- dren and teachers in Ipswich re- ceive pleasure. Mr. Crane has giv- en a sum of money to be used each year for the purpose of giving a pic- nic at Crane’s Beach to the school children and teachers of the town. The first picnic was given on the occasion of his son’s birthday and one has been given regularly every year since. As a result anyone who goes to school in Ipswich can be as- sured of at least one picnic each year. We all realize his kindness in providing for this picnic and we all look forward to it each year as a day of enjoyment. Marianna Jones bequeathed a fund to the town of Ipswich for more general purposes. She did not specify any method of using it but left it for the town to use in any way it sees fit. The town accepted this sum of money and now draws the interest on it. If at any time the town should be in need, this en- dowment could be used if it were so voted. A fund given for a somewhat dif- ferent purpose was that given by Mrs. William G. Brown. She wished to prevent cruelty to dumb animals of which many people are guilty. Therefore, she left some money to be used to convict those on trial for cruelty to dumb animals. Although this may be a bequest for a purpose of which many people would never think, it certainly is a very humane bequest and one which can be used for a worthy cause. From all these funds, therefore, Ipswich has received as gifts a free public library, a high school, two other schools, the provision for a school picnic each year, the oppor- tunity for ambitious boys and girls to further their education, an amount of money for its own use, and the protection of dumb animals. Certainly, these are gifts which add much to the welfare of the town and give our citizens and future citizens many great opportunities. May they show their appreciation 22