Salem State University - Clipper Yearbook

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1934 .sk 71 tx. Ulbemer balem in the behtnteenth Qlenturp Though merchants may lie by authority, we have tried to keep our Yuan Book close in spirit to that which a Merchant living in the Seventeenth Century in Salem might have seen himself or might have heard from the mouths of very honest persons of experience and knowledge. We have kept in mind, in our free mingling of past and present, a Merchant's Memory Book. The Merchant of the Seventeenth Century opened the way for his more famous successors. There were few more prosperous areas in the Colony than the Township of Salem which, in 1635, included Danvers, Beverly, Nlanchester, Wenham, part of Lynn, Middleton and. Topsfield, and Marblehead, in addition to the present limits. Development was rapid in this territory on which, in 1626, Roger Conant landed with his twenty-seven companions. One of I-ligginson's early letters states that Naunkecke contained half a score of houses, built, and a fayre house newly built for the Governor and about 200 planters settled. Pioneer Village shows this earliest type of dwelling. Before 1700, the Corwins, Brownes, Pickerings, and others were approaching Old World standards of living. Our Merchant's interests were not in trade alone, and the goose-quill man could write verses on his letter-sheets behind the propped-up ledgers, and read the Song of Solomon so many verses before bedtime, because it was the Bible. Before the end of the century every English ship was bringing books, and whole libraries came for Harvard College or to be broken up and sold to the public. There was a steady sea of traliic and an active correspondence with English scientists, divines, and men of letters, broken only during the Restoration. A London bookseller, visiting Boston in 1686, found the city stirring with his kind, and Salem was the third town in Massachusetts to set up its own public printing press. As the Merchant was thus familiar with both Cavalier and Roundhead literature, it is natural to lind echoes of Herrick, Pepys, and Carew, as well as of Bunyan, Fuller, and Milton. The Merchant of the literary type, so well represented by Thomas Maule, was of broader culture than the superficial observer has realized. The Witchcraft Delusion of 1692 showed the age at its worst, but we have the memory of Samuel Sewall's public apology. It was the time and not the place which caused the reign of terror. A bright spot in the dismal picture is the fact that it was here in Salem that the delusion was finally dispelled, causing a general awakening all over the country and in England. Superstition was not caused by lack of education, for that was ever dear to the hearts of the founders of Salem Town. Between 1626 and 1700 came a rapid and significant change in living conditions, the pioneer huts and slab houses, cheerless and crude, gave place to comfortable and substantial dwellings, the rude furniture was replaced by liner pieces, the Bible and a few schoolbooks were augmented and became libraries, the herb garden expanded into a pleasance spot. Such progress is a tribute to the Salem Merchant. L. GLUQETH, '34 7

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The fear 13005 1934 Bupular Qlihutatiun, Ebert anh um A nationally known university professor deplores the fact that there is no evi- dence that a single volume of Shakespeare was brought to America by any of the early settlers of either Plymouth Colony or the somewhat younger colony of Massa- chusetts Bay, but, be that as it may, they brought with them their Bibles and a great thirst for a knowledge that is fundamental to the creation ofa great Christian com- monwealth. lt is an inspiration to know that the immediate region served by the State Teachers College at Salem was the centre of the great movement which gave free popular education to America and that it had begun even before the coming of Governor Winthrop. Unfortunately, there are few early records of the evolution of the Colonial schools, but, from the views, habits, and relations of these pioneers, the education of their children must have been one ofthe chief matters of their concern. As early as 1628, Governor Cradock recommended that Indian children be trained in reading and religion. Certainly not less attention was given to the education of the children of the colonists. Although it is probable that the first free school in America was established in Virginia in 1621, there is little doubt that the first free school in Massachusetts was founded in Boston in 1636, the record of which is still in existence. Although private instruction had been given children in Salem before 1641, that year provision was made for the payment of tuition by the town, when necessary, in order that all children might attend school. The location of this first school is not certain but it is believed that it was on what is known as the Endicott farm in what is now Peabody. The third free school in the Commonwealth was established in Ipswich in 1642. In this year, the General Court ordered the selectmen of every town to have a vigilant eye over their brethren and neighbors to see that they shall not neglect to teach their children and apprentices the English language, a knowledge of the capital laws and some short orthodox catechism, and that they be brought up to some honest imployment profitable to themselves and the Common Wealth. This carries with it the implication of vocational training. ln Salem in 1640, the town chose young Mr. Norris to teach Schoolen and he continued to perform this service until 1684, when his resignation was accepted, and the town voted him as a pension, the sum of fifteen pounds, which was the rate of his salary for the previous year, to smooth the passage of so worthy a man to the grave. May not this have been the beginning of our teachers' retirement systems? Higher education in America had also its birth here, and our oldest college might have been located in Salem instead of at Cambridge, land for this purpose having been made available beyond Forest River. Later, Salem in common with other towns, made generous contributions to the funds required for the maintenance of l-laryard. S