Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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At this time, covering a period of years, Mr. Cheever had continued as the master of the school. The standard to be attained by the grad- uates was to read and speak Eng- lish, to make and speak true Latin, to write it in verse and prose, and by an extended course in Greek to acquire proficiency in that lan- guage. If a scholar fulfilled the course on those studies, he was judged ready for entrance into Har- vard College, and for many years Ipswich furnished boys, many of whom became famous, who were fitted by Mr. Cheever for their Har- vard College course. Mr. Cheever retired as master of the school in 1660 and Thomas An- drews was chosen in his place and taught for twenty-three years until he died in 1683, at which time No- diah Russell came and taught the school until 1687. In 1700 the selectmen reported that a new building was badly need- ed, and in 1704 it was voted to build a new town hall, which was located near where the Methodist Church now stands. The upper floor was used for a Court Room and town hall, while the Latin Gram- mar School occupied the lower part of the building. It continued to be used until 1794 under a joint con- trol of the feoffees and the town. In 1 94, however, largely by help of public subscription, a nev school building was built at the corner of Argilla Road and County Road on the original location of the old 1653 building. At this time a large tract of land was owned by the feoffees. It embraced the land now owned by the Lathrop Brothers, the land own- ed by William P. Reilly, and the land owned by the late Emory Brag- don, and others. In 1835, the school was moved away from Coun- ty Road to the present location of the Lathrop Stables. From 1687 to 1856, during the time of all the changes in the loca- tion of the school, history records a long line of teachers, who with more or less success, continued to teach the Latin Grammar School. Time does not permit my giving the dates and names of those teachers. Very few of them stayed in t he posi- tion for more than two or three years and many of them for only one year. In 1856, however, there came a teacher to take charge of the school from the neighboring city of Beverly, named Issachar Le- Favour. The memory of those who knew him is that he was not only a fine teacher, but a man of high character and greatly beloved by his pupils. He worked night and day for many years trying to arouse the public spirit for a better high school building. However, when in 1874, a building was made possible by the generous donation of Dr. Thomas Manning of New York, a descendant of an old Ispwich fam- ily, those in charge sav fit to drop Mr. LeFavour, and Professor Mat- thew Fiske was placed in charge of the new Manning High School. He taught for seven years, George Cross taught for one year, A. M. Osgood taught for one year, George Smith taught for three years, Charles Strout for one year, George Rug for one year, and Shar- rington H. Baker for three years. John P. Marston succeeded Mr. Baker in 1895. 21

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comprehensive view of hiy:h school education in Ipswich, it is necessary to trace briefly down through two centuries the work done under the Feoffees and other Boards in the school which had come to be called the Latin Grammar School. An ancient record book says, in 1636, “A grammar school is set up, but does not succeed.” The town records of 1642 have the following entry. “It is granted that there shall be a free school.” However there are no records to show where this school was located. At this time, William Hubbard of Ipswich, twen- ty-one years old, who presumably had obtained his education at this school, was one of that remarkable group of nine men first graduated from Harvard College. In 1643, the town voted eleven pounds a year for the school and chose what appears to be the first body of feoffees to have charge of the school. There were seven free scholars to be chosen by the feo- ffees. Mr. Lionel Chute is supposed to have been the first schoolmaster. In 1645, James Ward, son of Rev. Nathaniel Ward, was graduated from Harvard. He, too, was a pupil of the Ipswich Free School. By 1650 the Free School had be- come a fixed part of the town’s edu- cational system and Ezekiel Cheev- er, one of the most learned and em- inent teachers in New England was chosen as the master of the school. Mr. Cheever was the author of the Latin grammar entitled “The Ac- cidena,’ which was famous as a book of learning and was used in all the educational institutions of the country up to nearly the end of the eighteenth century. No less than twenty editions were printed. By this time it was evident that more funds were needed to main- tain the school, for we find in the town records that the town voted that “all the Neck beyond Chebacco River and the rest of the ground up to the Gloucester line should be giv- en to the school.” The feoffees leased this granted land for nine hundred ninety-nine years to John Cogswell, Jr. for fourteen pounds a year. It is interesting to note the method of payment as fixed by vote : four pounds were to be paid in but- ter and cheese, five pounds in pork and beef, and five pounds in corn at the curernt prices. Recently, a plan was adopted under which the town of Essex paid a lump sum of $2000 to the feoffees, and the lease, which at that time had about seven hun- dred years more to run, was dissolv- ed. In the year 1652 the town ap- pointed a committee of nine to regu- late school affairs with the power to take charge of all gifts, which had already been made and those made in the future, to elect a school- master, and fix a price each scholar should pay for tuition. In 1653, Robert Paine, who was one of the original feoffees, built a building for a grammar school, hav- ing purchased the land at the corner of Argilla Road and County Street. The school faced Schoolhouse Green, as it was then called. Mr. Paine kept the title to the land and building in his own name for thirty years until 1683, when he conveyed it to the feoffees. 20

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No history of high school educa- tion or its equivalent in Ipswich would be complete without mention- ing the Ipswich h ' emale Academy, later known as the Seminary Build- ing. It is impossible to give in the brief time at my disposal, anything but a mere outline of the history of this institution. Up to 1825 but litle attention had been paid to higher education for girls. There were some in Ipswich who keenly felt that this was a mistake. A representative group mot in November 1825 to organize a body to establish an academy of higher education for young women. Sufficient funds were subscribed, and a building was erected on the spot where the church of the Chris- tian Science Society of Ipswich now stands. In April, 1828, Miss Zilpah P. Grant, assisted by Miss Mary Lyon, took charge of the academy and we find from Felt’s History of Ipswnch that as early as 1833, the average number of scholars was 142. Some terms there had been nearly 200. There were eight as- sistant teachers. The board for each pupil, including washing, fuel, and lights, was $1.75 a w eek, ana the tuition was $10.00 for the term of sixteen weeks. At one time, the house now occupied by Dr. Tucker, was a boarding house for both pu- pils and teachers, and at times there were more than forty living there. The fame of the academy soon spread and pupils from all over the country, as well as from New England, came to Ipswich to receive their higher education. So successful was this school that Miss Lyon had an inspiration to erect a large college here in Ipswich and steps were taken to raise money. Ilow ever, the project failed here, and what is now Mount Holyoke College was founded at South Had- ley, instead. The academy was con- tinued in Ipswich with varying success under different educators. As late as 1854 there was an enroll- ment of 214 girls with only 38 of them from Ipswich homes. In 1844 Reverend John P. Cowles and his wife, formerly Eunice Caldwell, took charge of the academy and re- mained in charge until June 1876, when the school closed for good, just fifty years from the time it had started. In conclusion, it should be said that, from the settlement of the town, the people of Ipswich, both by generous appropriations from taxe s and from contributions from many of its citizens, have provided for the education of its children. We, who are graduating tonight, acknowledge and appreciate the educational privileges which have been ours. We trust and believe that the citizens of today and of the future will not only keep up the standard of the past, but will make it even higher for those who are to succeed us. 22