Plainfield Connecticut School History
The first public provision for the schools of this town of which we
have any record was made in December, 1707, when " part of the country
land was allowed for the encouragement of a school," and Lieutenant
Williams, Joseph Spalding and Deacon Douglas were directed " to take care
that there be one." A year later the town voted to send to Mr. James Deane
to come and be their schoolmaster, and he agreed to undertake the work for
what could be made out of it for half a year. At that time the school was
supported by its patrons rather than by a general tax. In 1716 John Watson
was " improved to keep school the deacons and selectmen to order the
school and receive the money." It was next agreed that the school should
be kept in three places, a suitable place provided for the schoolmaster to
quarter at, and a house suitable to accommodate each part during the time
of the school being continued in that part, to be provided at the charge
of each part, and if any neglect to provide such place, the committee to
order the schoolmaster to go to the next part; school to be kept first
over Moosup river; next in the middle; next in south part.
In 1717-18 John Stoyell, one of the most noted schoolmasters of the day,
was employed by several persons in the middle of the town to instruct
their own children and others for twelve months. The town accordingly
ordered all the school money for the year to be delivered to these persons
and made it the public school for the whole town, the cost to each child
being fourpence a week besides the public money. In 1719 Henry Wake was
schoolmaster three months at Edward Spalding's quarter, receiving for
service his "diet " and five pounds. In 1721 Mr, Walton maintained
perambulatory schools in the different neighborhoods, the town paying him
twelve pounds, finding board and keeping a horse for him. In 1720 the town
was divided into school districts, north and south of the meeting house,
each to order its own schools. In May, 1722, the first school house was
ordered, forty or fifty rods from the meeting house on the country road,
and in 1725 two others were completed-one at the south end, between James.
Deane's and Thomas Smith's; one at the north, near Joseph Shepard's. In
1740 ten shillings a week was deemed a reasonable recompense for the
master's " diet and horse-keeping." In 1766 a committee was appointed to
lay out school districts, which thus reported:
" 1, Flat Rock district, bounded south on Preston, east on Voluntown; 2,
Stone Hill district, north of Flat Rock; 3, Goshen, bounded north by
Moosup River, south by Stone Hill; 4, South, bordering south on Preston,
west on Canterbury; 5, Middle, extending from Mill Brook up Main Street,
butting east on Stone Hill; 6, Black Hill; 7, Moosup Pond, northeast
corner; 8, Moosup River; 9, Shepard Hill; 10, Green Hollow, beginning at
Snake Meadow Brook or Killingly line."
Doctor Perkins, Daniel Clark, Stephen Kingsbury, Andrew Backus, John Howe,
Jonathan Woodward, Philip Spalding, Samuel Warren, Samuel Hall and Isaac
Allerton were appointed a committee, one for each district, to see that
the schools were kept. Although the number of teachers and schools was
increased by this arrangement, the leading men of the town were not yet
satisfied with their attainments, and in 1770 proceeded to form an
association " for the purpose of providing improved facilities for the
more complete education of the youth of the vicinity." They erected a
brick school house of respectable size, procured teachers of a higher
grade, and established a more thorough system of instruction in common
English branches, but were unable to organize a classical department.
Stimulated by a legacy left by Isaac Coit, Esq., at his decease in 1776,
the annual interest of which was to be applied to the maintenance of a
Latin or grammar school in the new brick house in Plainfield, the
associated friends of education proceeded in 1778 to organize a classical
department, securing for rector Mr. Ebenezer Pemberton, of Newport, a
gentleman of high scholarship and accomplishments, and unusual aptitude
for teaching. His reputation and the favorable location of the school
attracted at once a large number of pupils. Colleges and academies had
been generally suspended. Seaboard towns were exposed to invasion, but
this remote inland village offered a safe and pleasant refuge. Gentlemen
in Providence, New London, and even New York, gladly availed themselves of
its advantages, and many promising lads from the best families in the
states were sent to Plainfield Academy. The good people of the town
welcomed these students to their homes and firesides. More teachers were
demanded, and the popularity of the school increased until it numbered
more than a hundred foreign pupils, besides a large number from Plainfield
and neighboring towns.
In 1784 Ebenezer Pemberton, Hon. Samuel Huntington, Hon. Eliphalet Dyer,
Reverend Levi Hart, Preston; Reverend Joseph Huntington, Coventry; and
General John Douglass, Major Andrew Backus, Doctor Elisha Perkins, Captain
Joseph Dunlap, William Robinson, Samuel Fox, Ebenezer Eaton and Hezekiah
Spalding, of Plainfield, with such others as the proprietors should elect
(not exceeding thirteen in the whole), were made a body corporate and
politic by the name of " The Trustees of the Academic School in
Plainfield," and invested with ample powers for managing the affairs of
the school. Plainfield Academy held a high position in popular favor. Its
rector was one of the most accomplished teachers of the day, and its
patrons and directors were among the leading men of the state. The village
was pleasant and healthful, and its most respectable residents were proud
of the school, and ready to open their homes and hearts to the stranger
students. Doctor Perkins, though now so much engrossed with the duties of
his profession, was alive to the interests of the academy, receiving even
scores of lads into his own family when boarding places were scanty. A
prudential committee of three was chosen annually from the directors, who
had charge of the buildings and supervision of the financial department,
while a stringent code of by-laws regulated the deportment of the pupils.
The third academic building known as "The White Hall," about a mile south
of the others, was soon completed and occupied by the English department
under the charge of Mr. Alpheus Hatch, a faithful and competent
instructor. The mathematical department in the brick school house was
assigned to Mr. Nathan Daboll, the author of "The Schoolmaster's
Assistant." The principal academic building, known as " The New Hall," was
devoted to classical instruction under the immediate charge of Doctor
Pemberton. Many aspiring youth were here fitted for a longer residence in
wider and more famous halls of learning.
A handsome stone edifice replaced the old academy building, erected in
1825, on a beautiful and commanding site given by Mrs. Lydia Farlan, other
public spirited residents subscribing funds for the building. About a
hundred students were usually connected with the school, of whom nearly
one-half pursued classical studies, fitting for college or professional
life. At the beginning of this century it usually had, for years, about
100 pupils, diminishing in later years, by reason of high schools in
adjoining towns; the attendance in 1845 being about 75, in 1860 about 50,
and recently from 30 to 40.
Among the many eminent men who have been connected with the Plainfield
Academy, as pupils or teachers, a few may be mentioned a follows: Nathan
F. Dixon, eminent lawyer of Westerly, R. I., and M. C.: Hon. Edward A.
Bradford, foreign minister; Joseph Eaton, judge of county court and state
senator Abraham Payne, prominent lawyer, of Providence; Rinaldo Burleigh,
for many years principal; Calvin Goddard, an able lawyer; John Adams, an
educator of great talent; Nathan Daboll, teacher, and author of arithmetic
and almanack; Sylvanus Backus, speaker of the house of representatives
many times; Reverend Joel Benedict, D. D., eminent divine; Hon. James
Humphrey; Reverend Edward Humphrey; Hon. James Munroe, member of congress
from Ohio. The list might be extended indefinitely, but this indicates a
vast blessing conferred on our country by Plainfield Academy. Among the
many who went out from Plainfield homes, and the instruction of Plainfield
Academy, none achieved a more useful life-work than George Shepard, D. D.,
Bangor, Me., professor of Sacred Rhetoric, stamping upon many minds the
impress of his own high character and deep spiritual consecration. The
Hon. Edward A. Bradford won much success at the bar in New Orleans, and
was honored by an appointment as judge of the supreme court of the United
States. Connection with the great anti-slavery conflict, as well as their
own genius, have made the Burleigh brothers very widely noted.
The union of three school districts, and the erection of the fine building
in Moosup, for the graded schools. at a cost of $10,000, was a long step
in the right direction, and marks an epoch in the progress of the town.
The ample school buildings at Central Village and at Wauregan, indicate
the public spirit and wisdom of the people.
Back to: Plainfield, Windham
County, Connecticut History Source: History of Windham County, Connecticut,
Bayles, Richard M.; New York: W.W. Preston, 1889 Back to: Windham County, Connecticut
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